Helen Fennell speaks out after husband cleared of murder following six years in jail

A man wrongly convicted of murder has returned to the small community where the death took place. Now his wife has spoken out about what it was like to live there during the 6.5 years he was in prison.

THE wife of a man wrongly convicted of murder has spoken about the family’s suffering over his six-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

Macleay Island mother of two Helen Fennell said she wasn’t a bitter person but was angry her husband, Steven Fennell, was taken away from her and her family.

She was speaking out yesterday, two days after the 60-year-old husband junk mail deliverer, was released from Wolston Correctional after the High Court acquitted him of murder.

Mr Fennell was convicted of murdering Macleay Island grandmother Liselotte Watson in 2012 and the sentence overturned in a landmark High Court hearing this week.

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Mrs Fennell said while her husband was in jail, she and her two sons were given support from the community and were never able to grieve the loss of Mrs Watson.

“We have never had the chance to grieve for the friend we lost,” she said.

“We will be able to find her grave and put flowers on it from us — we didn’t even go to her funeral.”

Mrs Fennell said her family needed something positive to focus on and she and her husband of 15 years, had decided to renew their wedding vows.

Steven and Helen Fennell in their backyard at Macleay Island after he was released from prison this week.

The prospective venue was likely to be on North Stradbroke Island as Mr Fennell was no longer able to fly after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his legs.

“It’s been traumatic but there is silver lining as we are actually now closer than before.

“My family and friends, like Sharon Ward, and the Macleay Island Community Church were there for me through thick and thin when I was shunned by some in the island community.

“It’s so nice to have a conversation with him instead of an eight-minute chat or a one-hour visit under the scrutiny of cameras in the prison.

“It’s upsetting that he missed major milestones in our lives such as my fiftieth birthday and our son Adam graduating dux from primary school.

“I could still talk to him on the phone but it was sad to watch couples walking hand-in-hand when I didn’t get to do that with my husband — that really got to me.”

Mrs Fennell said for months after her husband’s arrest in 2012, police drove past her home and followed her oldest son to and from high school to make sure he was not harassed.

She said initially she expected backlash but island resident Tim Barker had made a public statement asking residents to leave her and her sons alone.

Mr Fennell said he was not sure if he and his family would sell their home and pack up and leave the island.

He said he felt “destitute” after returning home from jail and waging a special leave to appeal, which he believed cost upwards of $80,000.

“We made three submissions to the court for special leave to appeal and then one oral argument, which I guess was so overpowering that they didn’t need my barrister to have his five-minute rebuttal,” he said.

Steven Fennell, on his postie bike outside his house on Macleay Island.

Mr Fennell said he had “a dozen alternative-theory suspects” including known drug users who lived near Mrs Watson, others known to have been violent and others who he claimed had lied to police.

“There was a whole range of people who were alternate suspects who were never mentioned by my lawyers,” he said.

“My lawyer started off really good and argued with police but the minute I got legal aid, it went wrong.”

Defence solicitor Adrian Donaldson involved in the trial of Stephen Fennell. Pic Tim Marsden