SNF anniversary ‘vigils’

Ten years after her arrest, killer Neill-Fraser supporters press on

SUSAN Neill-Fraser’s supporters are marking 10 years since she was taken into custody for the murder of her partner Bob Chappell.

“Vigils” have been organised to show support for Neill-Fraser, who was convicted in 2010.

Yesterday, supporters gathered in three locations in central Hobart between noon and 2pm. Another gathering, on Parliament House lawns in Hobart, is planned for today between 11am and 1pm.

Supporter group spokeswoman Rosie Crumpton-Cook said about 20 supporters at a time were involved yesterday, and many people stopped to talk to them about the case.

“A young woman who had been in prison with Sue … said Sue had turned her [the young woman’s] life around and helped her with her education and had changed the course of her life,” Ms Crumpton-Cook said.

“That is a story I have heard six or seven times over the years.”

She said books and TV programs about the case had increased the number of NeillFraser’s supporters interstate and that gatherings would be held in Port Melbourne and Alice Springs on Tuesday, which marks exactly 10 years since Neill-Fraser was taken into custody.

Neill-Fraser, of West Hobart, was charged in 2009 with murdering Mr Chappell, on board the couple’s yacht on January 26 of that year.

A Supreme Court jury found her guilty in 2010. She has been in jail since her arrest.

Neill-Fraser, who is serving a 23-year sentence, has always maintained her innocence.

Her legal team lodged her second appeal against her murder conviction with the Supreme Court in Hobart two weeks ago.

“Supporters of Sue NeillFraser welcome the fact that Sue has been granted the right to a further appeal, but remain concerned at the length of time the judicial process is taking,” Ms Crumpton-Cook said.

Neill-Fraser’s first appeal was rejected by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2012. The High Court declined to hear her case and a coronial inquest found she was responsible for Mr Chappell’s death.

Civil Liberties Australia wrote to Attorney-General Elise Archer in January calling for a Royal Commission into the Tasmanian justice system centring on Neill-Fraser’s case.

In response, a government spokesman said Ms Archer had “every confidence in the Tasmanian legal system”.

The State Government turned down a push from a group in 2017 for an independent inquiry into Neill-Fraser’s conviction.

To win the right to a second appeal, Neill-Fraser had to convince a Supreme Court judge she had “fresh and compelling evidence” to present to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Susan Neill-Fraser