The tide is finally turning for Sue Neill-Fraser who has been in jail 2657 days today.

The case was reported today in the Mercury as still a mystery despite the murder conviction. We do not know what happened to Bob Chappell on Australia Day 2009 yet everyone has speculated, and a jury was beyond reasonable doubt and Sue was convicted. http://www.themercury.com.au/news/scales-of-justice/tasmanian-case-of-convicted-murderer-sue-neillfraser-a-mystery-still/news-story/350c4148013f6c647803cf728b61939f

If in 2017 a miscarriage of justice is shown to have occurred people will look back on the case and the words said about Sue in the media, by police and in court, and then wonder how our justice system could let us down so badly. Sue’s case was circumstantial – where only one scenario must be viable. But we know factually there is more than one scenario for what happened to Bob.

The case is riddled with doubt and lack of evidence, yet these words remain strong in the minds and hearts of most Tasmanians who followed the case – because they either strongly agree or strongly disagree.

Justice Alan Blow said in sentencing:

I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Ms Neill-Fraser attacked Mr Chappell on board their yacht, the Four Winds, which was at its mooring off Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay. The attack occurred in either the saloon or the wheelhouse, out of public view, when the couple were alone. Mr Chappell probably died on board the yacht, but I cannot rule out the possibility that the attack left him deeply unconscious, and that drowning was the cause of death. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Ms Neill-Fraser used the ropes and winches on the yacht to lift Mr Chappell’s body onto the deck; that she manoeuvred his body into the yacht’s tender; that she attached an old-fashioned fire extinguisher weighing about 14 kilograms to his body; that she travelled away from the Four Winds in the tender with the body for some distance; and that she dumped the body in deep water somewhere in the river. …. She seems to me to be clever, very cool-headed, and well able to control her emotions… She has shown no remorse… It warrants a heavier sentence than most murders… Susan Blyth Neill-Fraser, I convict you and sentence you to twenty-six years’ imprisonment.

It was heartening to see the letter about Sue, her character and her back injuries in Tas Times http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php?/pr-article/letter-to-the-editor-on-sue-neill-fraser/ from Professor Peter McMinn who made the time to come from Sydney and attend two of the recent Directions hearings. This came about because he heard the ABC briefing report Is Sue Neill-Fraser innocent? by Damien Carrick on RN: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/2016-10-23/7949690

The ABC published an important update at the time: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-21/sue-neill-fraser-murder-case-divides-hobart-ahead-of-court-date/7950734?pfmredir=sm

In the last few few days we have seen the judge on Sue’s appeal application – Justice Shan Tennent – recuse herself. Some thought it was surprising but she was one of three judges who rejected Sue’s appeal in 2011-2012. It’s important that justice is done and is seen to be done in the most open way – especially given the gravity of a possible wrongful conviction and a woman who will have served almost 8 years in jail by the time the Appeal is heard. With the judge on Sue’s case, J Alan Blow, now the current Chief Justice of Tasmania, it is even more important to get this right.

When people are gathering together with their families on Christmas day, Sue will have been in jail for 2685 days.

We can’t imagine ourselves in jail wrongfully for one minute, yet by the time Sue’s case is back in court late March 2017 it will be 4 million minutes Sue will have been in jail.
Eve Ash, Psychologist and CEO Seven Dimensions Producer of award winning Shadow of Doubt documentary www.shadowofdoubt.tv