PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am grateful to Andrew Urban for the effort he has poured into revealing the miscarriage of justice that befell Ms. Neill Fraser, starting with posts on his 'Wrongful Conviction Report.' His first report on the Neill-Fraser case - Another Lindy Chamberlain miscarriage of justice - was published on August 15, 2013. Senior Deputy Senior Prosecutor (New South Wales): "Urban makes a powerful case that grandmother Neill-Fraser, who had run a successful horse-riding school and been involved in property development, was wrongly accused and prosecuted for the murder of Chappell, a radiation physicist, her partner of 18 years. Murder by the Prosecution is engrossing and troubling. Back and forth, the reader is propelled, much as a jury is during the ‘test match’ that a murder trial resembles. The later stand-alone chapters on other murder trials which have been found to have been unjust stand as sentinels fortifying Urban’s impassioned premise that Susan Neill-Fraser is serving a 23 year sentence for a murder she did not commit. The ethical prosecutor works not for a particular verdict, but for justice to be done. This must be the hope for Susan Neill-Fraser.” Andrew Urban is reporting from the appeal court in Hobart. 'Murder by the Prosecution" can be ordered at:
https://www.amazon.ca/Murder-Prosecution-Andrew-L-Urban-ebook/dp/B07NPK2X8H
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Report.
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BACKGROUND: ”Sue Neill-Fraser was convicted of murdering her partner Bob Chappell on Australia Day 2009, on board their yacht, Four Winds. She has maintained her innocence. She has been granted leave to appeal (in March 2019) after a three year process in which then homeless 15 year old Meaghan Vass admitted she was a witness to the murder and Neill-Fraser was not involved. Vass’ DNA was found on the deck." As per Yahoo News: 2020: "Ten years after being found guilty of murdering her partner Bob Chappell, Hobart grandmother Susan Neill-Fraser's second appeal against her conviction will be heard. Neill-Fraser is serving 23 years' jail for killing Mr Chappell on Australia Day 2009 on the couple's yacht in Hobart. Her legal team argues there is "fresh and compelling" evidence that places then-homeless teenager Meaghan Vass on board the boat the night in question.
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Check out the following link for a helpful synopsis of key issues in the appeal written by Andrew Urban:
← Sue Neill-Fraser appeal check list
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COMMENTARY: 'Comment,' by Andrew L. Urban, published on March (Concerning Day Two), published on The Wrongful Conviction Report on March 2, 2021.
GIST: "It should be remembered that there is no direct evidence that Sue Neill-Fraser murdered Bob Chappell. The presumption of innocence with which our legal system operates means that she was not required to prove anything. The prosecution was required to prove its case against her – beyond reasonable doubt. The jury found her guilty.
In this appeal, the testimony of Meaghan Vass was intended to back up the discovery of her DNA on the deck of the yacht – the crime scene.
Her anguished mental state has impeded her delivery of coherent and reliable testimony; but the DNA is a fact. It was dismissed at trial and set aside as being a secondary deposit, not capable of being exculpatory.
Fresh new testimony that asserts it was a primary deposit is sufficient to argue that had the jury been aware of that pertinent fact, it would have had to entertain reasonable doubt about the guilt of the accused. And the judge would have no doubt so instructed."
The entire commentary can be read at:
