‘Mouse at the mercy’: Convicted killer Sue Neill-Fraser pens artwork from prison

Twelve years since Sue Neill-Fraser was incarcerated for the murder of her partner, the convicted killer has penned a drawing from prison for the anniversary.

SUE Neill-Fraser has sketched a drawing from prison representing herself as a “mouse at the mercy of the Tasmanian justice system” – as Friday marks her twelfth year behind bars for murder.

Supporters will host a vigil next weekend at Parliament Lawns, commemorating the date she was first taken into custody back on August 20, 2009 for the murder of her partner Bob Chappell.

Sue Neill-Fraser. Source: Bruce Mounster.

Neill-Fraser, who has always maintained her innocence amid claims her case represented a “miscarriage of justice”, is awaiting a decision from her second appeal against conviction held in March this year.

Key supporter Rosie Crumpton-Crook said international interest in the 67-year-old grandmother wasn’t waning, with the Discovery Channel streaming Undercurrent – a six-part TV series about her case – in the UK and America last month.

“We want to highlight how slowly the wheels of justice turn and the impact this has on people’s lives,” she said.

“Sue has been in prison since August 2009 – between then and now she has missed grandchildren being born, her mother and close friends have died.”

Ms Crumpton-Crook said five-and-a-half years had passed since Neill-Fraser lodged her application for a second appeal.

“In any justice system people should not have to wait for over five years for an appeal to be dealt with,” she said.

She said Neill-Fraser described the mouse drawing as herself “clinging on for dear life to a stalk of wheat; a self-portrait, metaphorically speaking”.

Convicted murderer Sue Neill-Fraser has drawn a picture from prison of herself as a mouse. "Clinging on for dear life to a stalk of wheat (a self-portrait, metaphorically speaking)," she said. She has described herself as a mouse at the mercy of the Tasmanian justice system. Picture: Supplied

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Ms Crumpton-Crook also said over the years, Neill-Fraser had sent many of her drawings to supporters, often with an underlying message, and they planned to formally display the artwork at a future fundraising event.

“Sue has been so demonised over the years … she has been unfairly described as cold, cunning, manipulative. The vulnerability she shows in her artwork portrays a very different woman,” she said.

Sue Neill-Fraser Support Group President Rosie Crumpton- Crook and members at Parliament for the 12th anniversary of Sue Neill Fraser's incarceration. Picture: Chris Kidd

Neill-Fraser is currently serving a maximum 23-year sentence at the Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison for the Australia Day 2009 murder.

With a 13-year non-parole period, she is currently eligible to apply for release in exactly one years’ time.

However, her supporters claim she will not apply for parole if doing so requires her to admit guilt.

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Originally published as ‘Mouse at the mercy’: Convicted killer Sue Neill-Fraser pens artwork from prison