Susan Neill-Fraser was convicted of her partner’s murder on board their 53-foot yacht in 2009. But the presence of a teenage girl’s DNA at the crime scene, and her convoluted testimony, cast a shadow over what really happened to Bob Chappell.
On Australia Day 2009, Bob and Susan were working on the yacht where it was moored in Sandy Bay, Hobart.
At 5am the next morning, two witnesses noticed the yacht was very low in the water. They boarded it and called the police. When police arrived they noticed blood on the steps and a knife on the floor.
They also found the cause of the sinking: a pipe had been cut to allow seawater in. Marine experts said that whoever did the damage must have had intimate knowledge of the yacht.
While the search for Bob began, police took Susan aboard the yacht where she noticed multiple things out of place. Forensic testing on the yacht also found the DNA of an unknown female.
Susan was interviewed by police multiple times, but her accounts started to become convoluted. At first she said she left Bob on the yacht on Australia Day afternoon, went to Bunnings for ‘many hours’, and returned home.
But there was no sign of her on the Bunnings CCTV footage. And later, both her sister and a journalist alerted police that Susan told them she did return to Sandy Bay late that evening. She maintained it was only to look out at the yacht from the esplanade. She told her sister, however, that she got out of the car for some exercise.
In August 2009, Susan was charged with Bob’s murder.
Susan Neill-Fraser’s trial
In 2010, the unknown female DNA was matched with that of Meaghan Vass, who was 15 at the time of the murder. During Susan’s trial, Meaghan maintained she had no idea how her DNA ended up on the yacht, as she had never been on the yacht in her life.
Susan was ultimately found guilty, but fought her conviction with multiple appeals.
One of the appeals was based on the fact that Meaghan made a statutory declaration in 2017 claiming she gave false evidence, and she was aboard the yacht the night of the murder.
But during the appeal hearing, Meaghan testified she had never been on the yacht at all. While the court was adjourned, Meaghan appeared on 60 Minutes, where she again claimed she was on the yacht, and had detailed knowledge of the murder.
In an affidavit she stated she was on the yacht with two male companions, one of whom murdered Bob Chappell. In a later appeal Meaghan elaborated, testifying that the murderer was her then-boyfriend.
However, under cross-examination, Meaghan said she was coerced into exonerating Susan, and had no knowledge of the crime and was never on the yacht. The appeal ended with expert testimony that Meaghan’s DNA on the yacht could have been deposited by someone else.
Despite all of the confusion, Susan’s conviction was not overturned. She was released on parole in 2022.
Check out Generation Why’s episode on this case to unravel the full story.
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