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Bruce Saunders, 54, (pictured) was allegedly murdered in 2017 while working on a site north of Brisbane
A woman accused of plotting the murder of her ex-partner is said to have asked her two lovers why he had not been killed a week before his body was found in a wood chipper, a court has heard.
The Brisbane Supreme Court heard on Tuesday that Sharon Graham had asked her two lovers why her former partner Bruce Saunders had not been killed a week before his body was found in a wood chipper.
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.
Graham, 61, also pleaded not guilty to Saunders’ murder, but a Brisbane Supreme Court judge on Tuesday ordered that she be tried separately from Roser.
He and another man, Peter Koenig, were asked to murder Mr. Saunders and make it look like an accident in an attempt to claim his $750,000 life insurance policy, the court has heard.
The jury was shown police footage of Saunders’ legs sticking out of a wood chipper on the Goomboorian site near Gympie after he cut trees with Roser and Koenig.
Sharon Graham, 61, (right) is accused of plotting his murder and has reportedly asked two of her lovers – including Gregory Lee Roser, 63 (center) – why Saunders had not been murdered a week before his death
Koenig pleaded guilty to complicity after committing murder in June, the court heard.
Koenig said that about three months before Mr Saunders died, Graham had asked him to meet her and Roser at a Gympie motel, telling them she had arranged for the property to be evicted.
When asked what else Graham said, Koenig told the jury, “About killing Bruce – Sharon wanted to kill him.”
When asked why, Koenig replied, “Money. I think it was insurance money, life insurance.’
Koenig said they “just agreed,” but that he had no intention of killing Mr Saunders.
“Why say yes?” said Crown Prosecutor David Meredith.
“Just to keep her happy,” Koenig replied.
Koenig said he was in an intimate relationship with Graham, who was dating Roser at the time of her ex-partner Saunders’ death.
After vacating the property for a second weekend in a row, they returned to Mr Saunders’ Nambour home, which he shared with Graham, who slept in a separate bedroom.
When Mr. Saunders took a shower, Koenig said Graham asked why her ex-partner was still alive.
“She asked what was going on, why didn’t it happen,” Koenig told the jury.
After being told that the chipper was “playing out” and that too many people were around, Koenig said Graham replied, “Well, it has to be done.”
Roser is on trial for murder and charged with hitting Saunders in the head with a metal bar before he and another worker fed his body into a wood chipper (pictured)
The following weekend, Mr Saunders’ body was found in the shredder.
Roser has been accused of murdering Mr. Saunders by hitting him on the head with a metal bar before he and Koenig fed the body into the shredder.
A week before the motel meeting, Koenig said that Graham and Roser had asked him to borrow his gun to shoot rabbits, but returned it two weeks later because it was “too noisy.”
The Crown has alleged that Graham plotted Mr Saunders’ death for up to six months, at one point asking Roser to shoot her ex-partner before giving up on the plan.
Judge Martin Burns previously told the jury that Graham would face a separate trial, with her case due to be reviewed in October.
The Crown has claimed Graham plotted Mr Saunders’ death for up to six months (pictured, a smiling Bruce Saunders)
The jury was told this after Roser and Graham’s joint trial entered its second week.
“Sometimes it’s too much to expect to be able to handle individual cases,” Judge Burns said.
Asking you to make a separate consideration would be asking you to do impossible mental gymnastics.
“As far as the case against Mrs. Graham is concerned, that point has been reached.
“Therefore, I release you from pronouncing a verdict in her case…when you return, we will continue Mr. Roser’s trial.”
The process continues.