A woman has been found guilty of murdering her ex-partner by feeding him to an industrial wood chipper in a gruesome ‘almost Shakespearean’ plot to claim his $750,000 life insurance policy and will.
Sharon Graham had denied being the “architect” of the plot to kill Bruce Saunders, her former lover, in November 2017 while he was felling trees on a central Queensland property.
A Supreme Court jury deliberated for less than a day before returning a guilty verdict Friday.
Mr Saunders, 54, died after being dragged by an industrial wood chipper at the Goomboorian site on November 12, 2017 while working with two men, Gregory Roser and Peter Koenig.
Throughout the trial, the jury was told that Ms Graham induced Mr Roser to kill Mr Saunders by hitting him over the head with a metal bar and then feeding his body into the machine with the help of Mr Koenig .
The court heard that Sharon Graham would receive $750,000 from Bruce Saunders’ life insurance policy and that he was the sole beneficiary of his will.
All that remained of Mr. Saunders were his legs, down to his thighs.
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.
Prosecutor Todd Fuller QC argued that 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.
Sharon Graham (left) has been found guilty of murdering her ex-partner, Bruce Saunders, who was fed to a wood chipper in 2017
She would also receive a $750,000 payout from his life insurance policy.
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.
More to come.