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While feeding Bruce Saunders in a wood chipper, Peter Koenig made sure his friend’s legs were exposed so it looked like an accident, a court has heard.
Gregory Lee Roser, 63, is on trial for murder after Mr Saunders, 54, died while working on a property north of Brisbane in November 2017.
Sharon Graham, 61, asked Roser and Koenig to kill Mr. Saunders and make it look like an accident in an attempt to claim her ex-partner’s $750,000 life insurance, the Crown claims.
Gregory Lee Roser (pictured), 63, is on trial for murder after Bruce Saunders, 54, died while working on a property north of Brisbane in November 2017
Sharon Graham, 61, asked Roser and Peter Koenig to murder Mr. Saunders (pictured) and make it look like an accident in an attempt to claim her ex-partner’s $750,000 life insurance policy, the Crown claims
Police footage has been shown to the jury of Mr Saunders’ legs sticking out of a wood chipper on the Goomboorian site at Gympie after felling trees with Roser and Koenig.
Roser killed Mr Saunders by beating him repeatedly with a metal bar before carrying the body to the shredder, Koenig told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Koenig said he then used a branch to push Mr Saunders into the machine but decided to stop with the legs still out so it looked like an accident.
“To leave a little Bruce there, I guess… so the police can see,” said Koenig, who pleaded guilty to complicity in murder in June.
He said he couldn’t call a triple zero because his hands were shaking, but Roser was able to call Graham before handing him the phone.
Koenig agreed to tell Graham, ‘Bruce is no longer with us, the job is done’.
Koenig said Roser then started yelling “something like… oh Bruce, what have you done” to trick the neighbors into thinking there had been an accident.
Roser told him to get their “story” clear before the police arrived, Koenig said.
Koenig (left), Roser (center), Graham (right) and Mr Saunders are said to have been involved in a ‘love square’
Koenig at first didn’t believe Mr. Saunders was going to die, so he didn’t warn him, because it wasn’t the first time Graham had asked him to kill a man for money.
He said Graham asked him to kill another ex-partner, Barry Collins, earlier in 2017 and “make it look like a truck accident.”
“Because he had a lot of pension money, she was the beneficiary of it,” Koenig said.
“I just agreed to keep her happy (but) no (didn’t do anything) – he’s still alive.”
Koenig said he also refused to kill Mr Saunders, whom he considered a friend.
The suspect – Roser (left) and Graham (right) – were in a relationship at the time of the alleged murder
When they cleared trees on the property for the third weekend in a row without incident, Koenig thought ‘beauty, that’s not going to happen’, the court heard.
But when they left, Koenig said he saw Mr. Saunders fall to the ground.
“I turned and he (Mr Saunders) was on his back on the floor… he was shaking,” he said.
“Greg was there with a beam and hit (Mr Saunders) on the head a few more times.
‘I said ‘what the hell are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I think I killed him’ and ‘he’s dead.’
Koenig said he helped get Mr. Saunders to the shredder because Roser had a bad back.
Koenig agreed that he owned the metal bar used by Roser and then put it in his truck.
Koenig said he helped get Mr. Saunders to the shredder (pictured) because Roser had a bad back
Koenig had been in an intimate relationship with Graham, who was dating Roser at the time of her ex-partner Saunders’ death, the court heard.
Graham is accused of being in a ‘love square’ with Roser, Koenig and Mr Saunders, plotting the latter’s murder for months.
Graham has pleaded not guilty to Saunders’ murder, but Judge Martin Burns on Tuesday ordered that she be tried separately from Roser.
Koenig had been in an intimate relationship with Graham, who was dating Roser at the time of the death of her ex-partner, Mr Saunders (pictured), the court heard
Koenig confirmed that he had exchanged pornographic images with Graham until January 2018 and cataloged approximately 1,000 photos of her on his phone over five years in folders under names such as “hard core,” “great times,” “chest” and “trouble.”
But Koenig denied that he killed Mr Saunders because he was “obsessed and in love” with Graham, saying he “liked her” and that they were actually “brother and sister.”
“I didn’t kill him,” Koenig said.
Roser’s trial continues.