Jonathon Hawtin: Man left tetraplegic in horror axe attack allegedly orchestrated by his ex-wife Dr Lisa Lines and her lover speaks out as she’s extradited from Palau

A man left paralyzed from the neck down in a murder plot allegedly orchestrated by his ex-wife has spoken out about his struggles since the 2017 ax attack.

36-year-old Jonathon Hawtin from Adelaide became tetraplegic after allegedly being repeatedly hit in the neck with an ax by his ex-wife’s then partner Dr. Lisa Lines, Zachariah Bruckner.

Lines, 43, who is charged with two counts of attempted murder of Mr Hawtin and two counts of attempted murder, was extradited to Australia last week by the small Pacific island of Palau.

In a statement released after Lines appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, Hawtin said he is “deeply relieved” that his two children are safe “after six long years”.

“This has been a brutal and exhausting battle. My mother and I went through hell, but we never gave up and we never would have,” he said.

Mr Hawtin said Lines’ extradition to Australia came after “years of hard work and a determined effort” by the South Australian police’s main crime branch.

“The complexity of this operation is difficult to overstate, and what they have achieved – working across international jurisdictions and coordinating with numerous other agencies – deserves special recognition.”

He praised “the moral courage and strength of character” of the police and said his family “still faces many challenges.”

“These new challenges will require an equally dedicated effort as we work to pick up the pieces and rebuild a childhood for my children.”

Lines’ then-lover Bruckner has been charged with one count of attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

They reportedly planned to have Mr. Hawtin and his mother murdered by a hit man who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Lines appeared in court with Letiticia Fortune, who is charged with her in one of the alleged attempts to kill Mr Hawtin.

This allegedly happened while he was already paralyzed and recovering from the ax attack in a rehabilitation center in January 2018.

In the complicated chain of events, Mr Hawtin was charged with attempted murder for shooting 30-year-old Bruckner, with police believing the younger man acted in self-defence.

But a jury of six men and six women unanimously acquitted him in 2019 after three hours of deliberation.

In 2020, major detectives in South Australia reopened the investigation, resulting in an arrest warrant for Lines.

Bruckner was arrested in Brisbane earlier in November for conspiracy to commit murder and extradited to SA.

Lisa Lines (pictured left) is charged with two counts of attempted murder of Mr Hawtin and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder

Lisa Lines was extradited from Palau (pictured) in the western Pacific to Australia

On Monday, Lines’ legal team applied for her release on bail Advertiser reported.

The court heard she left Australia and traveled first to Thailand and then to Taiwan. She later received citizenship and a passport from Vanuatu.

Prosecutor Martin Hinton KC said Lines had fled with the two children she had with Mr Hawtin because neither of those countries has extradition treaties with Australia.

“It was quite by chance that the authorities discovered that she was planning to travel to Palau and that they were able to wait for her there at that time with the help of the authorities in Palau,” he said.

The prosecution will allege that while abroad, Lines conspired with Bruckner to hire a hitman to “finish the job,” in an alleged plot to kill Mr. Hawtin and his mother.

“They were unaware that the person they were speaking to, whose services they were trying to engage, was an undercover police officer,” Mr Hinton said.

Australian academic Dr Lisa Lines (pictured) was arrested last week in the small Pacific archipelago of Palau

Mr Hawtin was found in a pool of blood. A bloody ax was found at the house (photo).

Craig Caldicott, appearing for Lines, said his client denied the allegations and would plead not guilty.

He asked the court to release Lines on bail so she could see her children regularly.

But Magistrate John Wells refused bail because of the seriousness of the charges and because Lines “remains an unacceptable flight risk.”

The case continues.