Wyong ‘Ice Palace’: Bonnie Cullen pleads guilty to accessory to murder of Sean Froggatt

Explosive new details about the alleged murder of a man at a notorious Central Coast public housing estate have emerged after a woman admitted to being an accessory after the fact to his death.

Daniel Hasapis (left) has been charged with the murder of Sean Froggatt (right) while Hasapis' girlfriend Bonnie Cullen (middle) has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Picture: supplied

The body of a man lay hidden under blankets in a bathtub for two hours as police investigated an apparent domestic assault before they were tipped off by another victim, a court has heard.

Bonnie Cullen, 34, of Wyong, appeared via video link at Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where she pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Sean Froggatt.

Two other charges of concealing a serious indictable offence and kidnapping in company were withdrawn and dismissed.

An agreed set of facts states police were called to the public housing unit blocks on Levitt St, Wyong, shortly before 4.30pm on Saturday, January 28, 2023, after a woman rang triple 0 to report being allegedly held and assaulted by Cullen’s boyfriend in one of the units for the past three days.

Police attended and Cullen opened the door with what police saw were bruises to her forearms and burn marks to her neck and face.

Detectives at the Levitt St unit block in the days following the alleged murder. Picture John Grainger

The facts state police arrested Cullen’s boyfriend Daniel Paul Hasapis, 31, and sought “crime scene consent” from Cullen to take blankets from the bathtub, fingerprints and DNA swabs from “blood splatter” officers had seen in various rooms including on tiles in the bathroom.

Believing Cullen was “a victim of domestic violence” officers tried to build rapport and “probe her as to what had happened between her and Hasapis” before letting her contact a relative who took her to an address at Watanobbi.

A look inside the unit where Mr Froggatt died through a crack in the blinds. Picture John Grainger

It wasn’t until two hours later that the first victim — who was by this stage at Gosford Hospital being treated for extensive bruising to her face as well as multiple burn marks — raised concerns about Mr Froggatt.

Police, who were still at the unit, looked under blankets in the bathtub and found Mr Froggatt’s lifeless body.

An autopsy would later conclude the 52-year-old died from “blunt force trauma” to the head and had suffered no less than 70 injuries “across the head, neck, chest and abdomen, back and buttocks, upper limbs and lower limbs”.

The facts state messages on Cullen’s phone indicate she was “attempting to leave her relationship with Hasapis” in the lead up to late January last year.

The housing commission block of units located on Levitt St, Wyong, where Mr Froggatt died. Picture: John Grainger

Cullen had been out for the day with the first victim, who was a friend, before they both went back to Cullen’s unit she shared with Hasapis in the afternoon.

Police allege Hasapis assaulted both Cullen and the first victim on and off — between taking cannabis and ice — until the early hours of Saturday morning when he allegedly requested Mr Froggatt come to the unit.

Detectives at the unit in the days after Mr Froggatt’s body was discovered. Picture: John Grainger

Police will further allege Mr Froggatt attended the unit sometime before 2.30am when Hasapis allegedly interrogated him about Cullen and the other victim “working” as prostitutes from the unit.

There is no suggestion either woman were working as prostitutes.

Police will allege in court Hasapis punched and kicked Mr Froggatt until he stopped moving.

“Froggatt was saying, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what’s going on’,” the police facts allege.

Hasapis and Cullen left the unit and returned “about an hour later” and demanded the first victim perform CPR on Mr Froggatt.

When that didn’t work Hasapis and Cullen allegedly forced the first victim to smoke ice and blow it into Mr Froggatt’s mouth in another effort to revive him.

Cullen later told the first victim to help her clean the room and bundle up everything that had blood on it and put it in the bathtub.

The first victim was eventually allowed to leave and she went to a friend’s house a short distance away and called triple 0.

Cullen was adjourned to face Gosford District Court on October 3 to fix a sentence date.

Hasapis, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping in company and will face trial in the NSW Supreme Court next year.