Woman guilty of woodchipper murder’s evil request to…

The son of a man who was fed to a wood chipper in a horrific plot orchestrated by his ex-partner has revealed the same woman then demanded half of his father’s ashes.

There were cheers and shouts from the courtroom after Sharon Graham was found guilty of murdering Bruce Saunders in an ‘almost Shakespearean’ plot in November 2017.

She has been sentenced to life in prison, with a judge describing her as exhibiting “deep-seated psychopathy” for the heinous crime.

Saunders’ son, Blake, wiped away tears and cried after the jury returned their verdict Friday.

In a heartbreaking victim impact statement, he revealed that Graham had asked her to keep half of his father’s ashes after the funeral.

“This was all part of your evil plan to make it look like you were grieving… but in reality it was you trying to hide your guilt,” Blake said in his statement.

Graham, 63, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bruce Saunders after he was fed to the wood chipper while felling trees at a property in Goomboorian, near Gympie, on November 12, 2017.

A jury took less than a day to deliver their guilty verdict.

Throughout the trial, the jury was told that Ms Graham induced Greg Roser to kill Mr Saunders by hitting him on the head with a metal bar and then feeding his body into the machine with the help of Mr Koenig.

All that remained of Mr. Saunders were his legs, down to his thighs.

The court was told Mr Saunders was ‘worth more dead than alive’ to Ms Graham as she was named as the sole beneficiary of his will, including his car, house and savings.

She would also receive a $750,000 payout from his life insurance policy.

Graham showed no emotion as the jury handed down the verdict on Friday, amid shouts from members of Mr Saunders’ family.

Ms. Graham had been in relationships with all three men at various times while she was dating Mr. Roser.

In his victim impact statement, Blake described his father Bruce as a ‘loving, kind, gentle and hardworking’ man who always supported him.

The court was told Saunders’ wife had died of breast cancer.

Blake described waking up to a text message from Graham on the day of his father’s death, informing him that something “terrible” had happened to his father.

He described how devastated he was at losing his father and spoke of the deep sadness he felt.

The court was told that at Bruce’s funeral, Graham even sat next to him in the front row and pretended to cry.

“Then I offered you my arm in support,” he said.

“I didn’t know at the time that you had planned, orchestrated and covered up my father’s murder. Comforting you during that difficult time will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Then you asked to split my father’s ashes in half so you could keep half of them.”

In his statement, Blake said Graham took advantage of a “lonely, grieving man” who would have helped anyone.

“You’re a despicable human being,” he told Graham.

‘I love my father and I miss him so much. I will never be able to hug him, or hear his laugh, or see his big smile.

“You took the last, most important part of my life.”

Other statements were made by Bruce’s brother, Colin, and Sharon Beighton, the owner of the property where Mr Saunders was killed.

She talked about defending Graham from everyone who initially accused her of murder, and wondering how she could kill Bruce when all he wanted to do was take care of her.

“You didn’t deserve him, he was too good for you,” Ms Beighton’s statement read.

‘Where are your friends now Sharon? They’re all gone.’

During the trial, Mr Koenig gave evidence that Ms Graham had repeatedly asked for Mr Saunders to be killed on previous dates while the trio were clearing the property.

He said that on the day of Mr Saunders’ death, he grabbed the 54-year-old’s arms after Mr Roser ‘clubbed’ him and helped feed him to the wood chipper.

Peter Richards, Ms Graham’s lawyer, claimed his client did not persuade Mr Roser to commit the murder and insisted she believed it was an accident.

Jailing Graham, High Court Judge Martin Burns said the 63-year-old viewed Bruce as an ‘inconvenience, but worse than that, a source of money to secure your future’.

“There are no words for people like you,” he said.

“Even if that were the case, I in no way wish to diminish the statements… which have eloquently described the real horror of what you did, and the profound impact it has had and will continue to have.

‘Through my observations you have shown the characteristics of deep-seated psychopathy.

“If at any time the authorities seriously consider your release, I ask them to keep this observation in mind.”