House of horror where husband brutally murdered his wife is up for sale – after evil killer’s bid to pocket the profits is dashed by judge

EXCLUSIVE

The home where mother of three Samantha Fraser was brutally murdered and found hanging in the garage is for sale.

Adrian James Basham, now 47, was sentenced to life in prison last year for the brutal murder of his former partner at their Seagrove Way home on Phillip Island in Victoria on July 23, 2018.

The house is listed for sale for $920,000, with the entire proceeds expected to be pocketed by the state government after a legal bid by Basham to gain access to the property failed.

Basham had applied to the Supreme Court of Victoria to retain ownership of the house, contents and a Toyota pick-up and carpentry tools.

His father also filed a separate claim for the motorcycle Basham used as a getaway car after killing his daughter-in-law, but that application was also denied.

Basham had told the court he had to sell the property in Cowes to pay his legal costs.

The Victoria District Attorney’s Office applied to seize the house, claiming it was “tainted property” where Basham allegedly murdered his ex-wife and then staged the scene to make it look like he was committing suicide.

Adrian Basham murdered his wife in the garage of his estranged wife’s home

The property, in which Basham says he has a $545,000 interest, is for sale for $920,000.

During an August hearing, Basham defended himself after saying the court had been unable to obtain legal representation from Victoria after the trial.

He said he wanted to use the property to fund private lawyers for an appeal of his conviction.

Although the property’s advertisement boasts “secure access to the home via a double garage,” there is no mention of a woman’s murder in that same garage.

During Basham’s trial, the court heard that Mrs Fraser had turned the property on Seagrove Way into a fortress.

Police alleged that Basham had sneaked into the garage as Fraser was returning home from a meeting with friends.

She was supposed to pick up her children from school that afternoon, but she didn’t show up.

Basham escaped on a motorcycle which his father later tried to save

Basham was captured on CCTV loitering outside the house in Seagrove Way before the murder took place

The court heard that Ms Fraser weighed just 57kg and was significantly smaller than Basham.

Her handbag and phone were later found still in her car, after she was attacked as she drove into her parents’ garage.

Samantha had been fighting desperately for her life and had deep bruising on her hands and wrists, which was due to being tied up.

When she was attacked, her head was subjected to a twisting force and speed, causing her head to spin around.

Prosecutors say Basham tried to clean up the bloody crime scene after hanging her from the garage door.

The court heard that Basham also currently owns another property, estimated to be worth more than $2 million, on Smiths Beach.

Although the Director of Public Prosecutions has not sought to seize that address, the court heard it remains reluctant to secure compensation claims for Mrs Fraser’s three children and her parents.

The house on Seagrove Way is for sale

Inside the house where Samantha Fraser was murdered

In her ruling, Judge Lesley Taylor slammed Basham.

“The objective seriousness of Basham’s offence and his moral culpability for it are of the highest order,” she ruled.

‘It was a premeditated murder that took place against a backdrop of domestic violence and seven days before Ms Fraser was due to testify at the hearing into the rape allegations she had made against him.

‘The offence itself consisted of Mrs Fraser being assaulted, sustaining 41 separate blunt force injuries before being hanged.

‘The forfeiture of Seagrove Way is proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the offence, as it constitutes murder in the ‘worst form’.’