Woman accused of woodchipper murder told friends she would get everything if victim died first

A woman accused of murdering her ex-partner, whose body was fed through a woodchipper, allegedly told friends he was ‘pathetic’ and she would get everything if he died first, a court has heard.

Gympie Police and SES crews conducting a search at the Goomboorian property where Bruce Saunders died.

A woman accused of murdering her ex-partner, whose body was fed through a woodchipper, allegedly told friends that he was “pathetic” and she would get everything if he died first, a court has heard.

Sharon Graham, 61, and her then partner Gregory Lee Roser, 63, have pleaded not guilty in Brisbane Surpreme Court to murdering her ex boyfriend Bruce Saunders at a property at Goomboorian just outside Gympie in November 2017.

The incident was initially deemed an accident by police, who later accused Graham of convincing Roser to carry out the murder.

Months prior to Mr Saunders death the court heard Graham attended a girls’ night to cheer up Sharon Beighton, who owned the Goomboorian property, because her husband had recently died.

Bruce Saunders.

Mrs Beighton’s granddaughter Keira-Lee, who was present, told police that Graham was talking about her relationship with Mr Saunders on the night.

“I remember Muffy (Graham) was laughing and saying how pathetic Bruce was,” she said.

“Muffy was also talking about how much money Bruce had … saying Bruce was older than her and that he would die first and she would get everything.

“I remember her exact words at one point were ‘it’s not my fault that he loves me and wants to give me everything’.”

Witness Keren Armstrong who became friends with Mr Saunders, a butcher by trade, while working with him in Agnes Water said he had told her that Graham hit him.

“I told him to leave her,” Ms Armstrong told the court.

She described Mr Saunders, whose first wife died of cancer, as an “open book”.

“He wore his heart on his sleeve and he was just a really, really lonely guy,” she said.

Ms Armstrong said she helped Mr Saunders set up an online dating profile and soon after he met Graham.

“Not long after that he said he loved her and things like that,” she said.

About a month before he died Mr Saunders rang another work colleague Christeena Grills about his relationship with Graham.

Greg Roser and Sharon Graham, charged with the murder of Bruce Saunders near Gympie in 2017. Credit: Supplied.

“He rang in tears, he was very upset about the way Sharon had been treating him, verbally abusing him,” she said.

Ms Grills suggested he leave Graham and while Mr Saunders agreed he should, he didn’t know how to end the relationship because “he was so scared of being alone”.

The crown allege Graham procured the murder of Mr Saunders and cited his $750,000 life insurance policy that benefited her as a “powerful motive”.

However, witness Sharon Beighton said Graham had asked her to approach Mr Saunders and ask him to take her out of his will because they were no longer in a relationship.

Mrs Beighton, who had been friends with Graham for about six years, told the court Mr Saunders refused, saying it was his will and he wanted “to make sure she’s looked after”.

She told the court that Graham had organised for Roser, Peter Koenig and Mr Saunders to clear trees from her property the weekend of the alleged murder.

Witness Sharon Beighton leaving Brisbane Supreme Court. Picture: Liam Kidston

She told the court she was sleeping when her dog started barking and Roser and Mr Koenig approached the house.

“I said where’s Bruce and Greg said to me ‘I tried to save him, I tried to pull him out’ … he said he went through the chipper,” she said.

Roser’s barrister Lars Falcongreen has told the jury his client did not murder Mr Saunders but “shamefully” helped put his body through the woodchipper.

“Anytime you hear evidence of Mr Roser saying that Bruce Saunders died in an industrial accident where he fell into a woodchipper that’s a lie,” he said.

The trial continues on Wednesday.