Ex-cop’s link to murder defence
A RETIRED police officer who was once the Far North’s most senior detective was paid to work on the defence case of a couple accused of murder.
John Hartwell, who served as the region’s regional crime coordinator for more than two years until 2011, pocketed $300 a day to act as “consultant” for graziers Stephen Struber and Dianne Wilson-Struber, who were convicted of killing prospector Bruce Schuler on Palmerville Station.
This explosive claim is one of many revealed in a book entitled Struberville: Consequences of Isolation, penned by former TV weatherman Monte Dwyer about the 2012 murder .
Mr Dwyer coincidentally met and interviewed Struber weeks before the murder.
In the book he said Mr Hartwell was recruited by the couple’s former solicitor Anne English to “consult on the police investigation”. It also claims investigating officer Detective Sergeant Bradley McLeish asked Mr Hartwell about two guns Struber “found”.
“McLeish pointed out to Hartwell that whoever was in possession of the rifles may be in breach of the weapons act,” the book said. “The next day English hand-delivered both rifles to the police.”
Another new detail revealed in the book was a successful bid by the Strubers’ lawyers to stop key witness Tremain Anderson describing being shot at by one of the pair in a previous altercation.
Mr Dwyer also spoke with Wilson-Struber’s brother George of his fury over Struber trying to pin the murder on him during his appeal and disinherit him from the station.
He said writing the book had highlighted the wild west nature of places like Cape York and also the ability to win a case without a “smoking gun” as Mr Schuler’s body has never been found.
“The further away from civilisation people are the less civilised they become and I think that’s certainly the case with the Strubers,” he said.
The book is available at local stores including Collins Booksellers Smithfield or at www.monte.com.au.