‘Psychopath’ woodchipper killer Sharon Graham in bid for slice of victim’s estate

A Queensland woman serving life behind bars for the shocking woodchipper murder of her former partner wants a slice of his life’s net worth.

Sharon Graham

A Queensland woman serving life behind bars for the shocking woodchipper murder of her former partner has launched a bid for a slice of his life’s net worth.

Sharon Graham, who has appealed against her conviction for killing Nambour man Bruce James Saunders on November 12, 2017, has told the state’s Supreme Court that she is entitled to a slice of his estate.

She claims she held an equitable interest in his Nambour home “as a result of contributions she made”.

Bruce Saunders died after being fed into a woodchipper.

Details of her claim on the estate, which is being administered by the public trustee, were revealed in a preliminary decision handed down by Justice Peter Davis on May 20.

Two other people, Gregory Lee Roser and Peter Koenig were involved in the killing. They were arrested and charged in late May 2018.

Mr Saunders was fed to a woodchipper and all that remained of him was his legs, up to his thighs.

Koenig pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder in June 2022 and gave evidence against Roser at his trial in September 2022.

Sharon Graham is brought into custody at the Maroochydore Watchhouse under arrest for the murder of her former partner Bruce Saunders. Picture: Lachie Millard

Roser was found guilty of murder the following month and sentence to life in jail. He appealed the verdict.

When Graham was sentenced to life in jail Justice Martin Burns described her as displaying “deep-seated psychopathy” and said she regarded Bruce as an “inconvenience, but worse than that a source of money to secure your future”.

The decision states that Graham’s claim will be dealt with by the public trustee in coming months.

The modest estate includes $34,441 from the sale proceeds of his four-bedroom brick and tile home at 24 Wentworth Court, Nambour, the decision states.

A social media image of Sharon Graham.

The house was mortgaged to lender Perpetual and the majority of the sale proceeds went to pay out the loan.

It was sold in 2018 for $455,000, sale records state.

Graham was appointed executor and sole beneficiary in Saunders’ last will made on 24 October 2017, three weeks before he was killed.

The site at Tinana Road Goomboorian, near Gympie where Bruce Saunders was killed.

But because she was convicted of his murder on October 27, 2023, she is not eligible to either administer his estate and would not be entitled to the bequest under the forfeiture rule.

The rule says if a person is criminally responsible for the death of another, and that death is a material fact in the vesting of property in favour of that person, the interest in that property is forfeited.

Graham is appealing her murder conviction but the appeal has not been heard, the decision states.

Sharon Graham has been jailed for the murder of Bruce Saunders. Credit: Supplied.

If she succeeds in overturning her conviction she may become eligible to the small estate.

The proceeds from the sale of the home had been held by the Supreme Court between about 2018 and this year, when Justice Davis ordered they be transferred to the public trustee which was granted an order to administer Saunders’ will on 26 February 2020.

Originally published as ‘Psychopath’ woodchipper killer Sharon Graham in bid for slice of victim’s estate