Accused murderer Sara Connor’s friends hold fundraiser in Byron Bay
AMBRA Bertoldi has been a close friend of Sara Connor, who is accused of murder in Bali, for many years. She goes to see her daily in jail.
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EXCLUSIVE
WHEN Ambra Bertoldi first heard the news that one of her closest friends Sara Connor had been arrested in Bali, Indonesia, and accused of murdering a police officer, she thought it was joke.
At the time back home in Italy she couldn’t make sense of how her caring, generous and compassionate friend could be accused of such a crime.
She jumped on a plane and went to Bali and has been there ever since, providing daily support, visiting her in jail, cooking and bringing her favourite foods and supporting her in court.
Yesterday, Ms Bertoldi was in Connor’s hometown of Byron Bay, helping with a family benefit day and concert especially to raise money for Connor, her legal bills and her family, including her two young boys who live in Byron Bay with their dad.
All prizes for the day were donated as the local community bonded to show their support for one of their own.
Some of Connor’s closest and longtime friends where at the benefit, called Waiting With Love, as well as Connor’s Indonesian lawyer, Erwin Siregar, who flew to Australia at the weekend to interview two Sydney sisters who will now appear as witnesses in Connor’s Bali trail.
Connor’s parents, Anna and Angelo Pistidda, from Sardinia in Italy, were also there. They are in Australia helping with their two grandsons.
Ms Bertoldi and Connor have been friends for years, their parents in Italy were friends and they shared family holidays.
Then after Connor married Anthony Connor and moved to Byron Bay to live, Ms Bertoldi
decided to come to Australia.
She ended up staying four years in Byron Bay and living with Connor.
When Connor was arrested Ms Bertoldi had just gone back to Italy in preparation for travelling around South America.
But news of her friend’s arrest put that all that on hold. She will now remain in Bali caring for Connor for as long as it takes.
“I will be there (in Bali) as long as she is, hopefully not too long,” Ms Bertoldi said.
“She just can’t believe it is happening to her, it is so surreal. Being away from the kids is the hardest, she just wants to be back with her kids.
“That (the kids) is all she thinks about all day long.”
Ms Bertoldi had never been to a jail before. Now she goes each day to Bali’s Kerobokan prison to visit her friend.
“It is hard to see her like this. I want to see her out of there as soon as possible,” she said.
Ms Bertoldi remembers the first time seeing her friend after her arrest.
“She was so scared and confused and she couldn’t believe what was happening and she was in shock, she was completely in shock.”
Now, with her murder trial under way in Denpasar District Court, she said Connor is trying to focus on the trial, studying statements.
Connor’s parents are also in disbelief.
“It was like the world crumbled on us. At first we thought it was a mistake. We couldn’t believe it was happening to her,” Connor’s mother Anna Pistidda said yesterday.
“We know our daughter and we know she is completely innocent. She is not able to do anything like this. Sara is a generous person, always thinking about others and you can see that reflected in her friends caring and loving her,” Mrs Pistidda said.
Longtime friend Victoria Dyte and her family were also at yesterday’s Waiting with Love event. Ms Dyte who first met Connor more than 15 years ago in London, has been helping to co-ordinate collection of character references to hand to the Bali court during Connor’s trial.
So far they have 75 different references. Ms Dyte said reading them as they come in has been emotional.
“It has been so emotional. I sat there and cried, they were all so beautiful,” Ms Dyte said of the references received so far.
Connor’s trial resumes in Bali tomorrow (Tuesday) when the prosecution will call more witnesses to testify.
Mr Siregar said he met two Sydney sisters, Coleen Bowen and Kim Watson, at the weekend and has decided to call them as defence witnesses.
The two women were in Bali on the night of the murder, staying in the Pullman Hotel, across the road from the beach were the police officer was killed in the early hours of August 17 this year.
As revealed by News Corp Australia the two women heard the fight leading up to the murder and reported their story to the AFP when they returned from their Bali holiday.
Mr Siregar flew to Sydney and said that he intends to bring them to Bali to testify.
Connor maintains her innocence, saying all she did was try to separate her British boyfriend David Taylor and the police officer, Wayan Sudarsa, who were fighting on the beach that night. She said the last time she saw the police officer he was alive and she played no role in his murder.
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