Wilson-Struber’s sister petitions for inquest into Bruce Schuler’s death, 10 years after murder conviction

More than 1200 people have signed a petition to the Queensland parliament, calling for a coronial investigation into the 2012 disappearance of gold prospector Bruce Schuler from Palmerville Station.

Dianne Wilson-Struber and family at Palmerville Station, where they grew up, and where gold prospector Bruce Schuler disappeared in 2012.

More than 1200 people have signed a petition to the Queensland parliament, calling for a coronial investigation into the disappearance of gold prospector Bruce Schuler from Palmerville Station on July 9, 2012.

Graziers, Dianne Wilson-Struber and her husband Stephen Struber were convicted by a jury of Mr Schuler’s murder ten years ago in the Cairns Supreme Court.

Mr Schuler’s body has never been found and both Mr Struber and Mrs Wilson-Struber have always maintained their innocence, telling questioning police at the time that they were elsewhere on the family’s Palmerville Station property that day.

Ms Wilson-Struber’s younger sister, Sharon Ferguson, of Mareeba, says justice has not been served, and initiated the petition to parliament last month, calling for a full coronial investigation.

Sister of convicted murderer Dianne Wilson-Struber, Sharon Ferguson, has started a petition calling for a coronial investigation into the disappearance of gold prospector Bruce Schuler from Palmerville Station in 2012. Picture: Peter Carruthers

“I believe my sister is innocent and it is an injustice what has happened,” Ms Ferguson said.

“I feel for the Schulers. That family must be going through hell … and I am hoping that if we can get an inquest reopened, we might find answers about what happened and where his (Bruce’s) body might be.” she said.

Ms Ferguson said many lives were destroyed when Bruce Schuler disappeared, and rumours persist to this day about the circumstances.

“I believe if we can find out what really happened, this will help.”

Aerial view of the Palmerville Station property where Bruce Schuler disappeared in July 2012 during a prospecting trip with friends.

Mr Schuler’s widow, Fiona Splitt, who was his wife of 27 years and the mother of his two children, was instrumental in the ‘no body, no parole’ laws, which were enacted in Queensland in 2017, and made retrospective.

No coronial inquest was ever held into Mr Schuler’s disappearance.

Then Northern Coroner Nerida Wilson ruled a coronial inquest was not needed but she published ‘non-inquest coronial findings’ in 2018, based on investigation materials provided by the Queensland Police Service and evidence from the transcript of the Supreme Court murder jury trial, which was held in 2015.

The body of Mareeba prospector Bruce Schuler has never been found. Photo: Contributed

In the published findings, she said she “decided not to hold an inquest into the circumstances of Bruce Gavin Schuler’s death because my coronial investigation has revealed sufficient information to enable me to make findings about his death.”

She said the precise circumstances of his death were “unknown” but she ruled the cause of his death to be fatal gunshot wounds.

Evidence presented at the murder trial included witness accounts from three men who travelled to Palmerville Station with Mr Schuler to go prospecting.

They said they hid their vehicle in a dry creek bed, believing they would not be welcome, and had later seen a tan ute nearby that they believed belonged to the Strubers.

They variously reported seeing the Dianne WIlson -Struber and Stephen Struber and hearing two gunshots.

Dianne Wilson Struber and Stephen Struber were convicted of murder by a jury in 2015 over the disappearance of gold prospector Bruce Schuler on Palmerville Station.

Tyre marks, DNA, fire remnants, firearms and vehicles from the property were sought and analysed, with the jury told no blood-related evidence was located on the Strubers’ clothes or vehicles, but several firearms were missing from the property.

Ms Ferguson said her sister maintained her innocence from the time she was first questioned by the police.

She said personal and legal issues had made it difficult to progress their efforts, with the family now enlisting the help of a legal team in Brisbane, which was also looking into other avenues of appeal in addition to the petition.

The petition, which has been signed by more than 1200 people so far, states that her sister’s defence at trial was affected by financial issues and a change of lawyers.

Ms Ferguson said post-trial information and investigations by a podcaster and former detective, Graeme Crowley, had shed new light, uncovering difficulties and discrepancies.

Family photo of Dianne Wilson-Struber, who is serving life imprisonment after a jury convicted her of murder. She maintains she is innocent.

“Initially, I thought (the case) was pretty straightforward, but when I got into it, I thought, ‘this doesn’t add up’,” Mr Crowley said.

Ms Ferguson said an inquest would help to get answers.

“The murder trial of Dianne Wilson-Struber was hindered by monetary constraints and her primary representation resigned but held a good case for her innocence,” states Ms Ferguson’s petition.

Ms Struber-Wilson appealed against her conviction to the Queensland Court of Appeal, an appeal that was dismissed in 2016, and Mr Struber has appealed against his conviction to the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Australia, both of which were dismissed and rejected.

Originally published as Wilson-Struber’s sister petitions for inquest into Bruce Schuler’s death, 10 years after murder conviction