Coronial inquest hears possible father wanted to ‘get rid’ of Krystal Fraser and her baby

An inquest has heard a teenage girl overheard the prime suspect say he would “chuck her to the pigs” before Pyramid Hill mum-to-be Krystal Fraser disappeared.

Before Krystal Fraser disappeared more than 13 years ago, a teenage girl heard the prime suspect tell her father “I‘ll just chuck her to the pigs” on his Pyramid Hill property.

In an explosive testimony on Friday, Shannon Connelly, 29, told a coronial inquest into the missing Pyramid Hill woman, she had overheard four conversations between her father, Stephen Jones, and Peter “PJ” Jenkinson.

The pair had been close friends, but fell out shortly after Ms Fraser disappeared on June 20, 2009.

Stephen Jones, who took his life in 2010, was initially suspected of involvement in her disappearance and later ruled out by investigators, while Peter Jenkinson has long been considered a primary suspect.

Copy picture. Missing woman Krystal Fraser and items of clothing she was wearing when she disappeared in June Picture: Supplied

He is expected to appear before the inquest on July 18.

Ms Connelly said she tried to report what she heard to police in 2009, only to be told: “I was too young and trying to protect my father”.

She was 16 years old at the time and had been sent to live with her father in Gunbower between November 2008 and early 2010.

But on June 26 this year she was contacted by a police officer still investigating Krystal’s disappearance and asked to give a statement.

“I have come forward now as I was contacted by Detective Brett Thexton who told me what I have to say is important,” she said.

“Pete and dad would have conversations in front of me like I wasn’t there, or they thought I wasn’t paying attention.”

She detailed a conversation she said she’d overheard between Mr Jones and Mr Jenkinson at Mr Jenkinson’s Gunblower farm but was unable to remember when it occurred.

“I heard yelling, I heard dad say; ‘Don’t be f------ stupid, that’s a woman and child that you’re talking about’,” she said.

Mrs Connelly said she was shocked to hear yelling and moved closer to the conversation, hearing Mr Jenkinson respond: “She wouldn’t get rid of the baby, so I’ll get rid of her”.

“Dad said something like ‘That’s ridiculous you can’t do that’, then Pete said ‘I’ll just chuck her to the pigs’,” she said.

She told the inquest her father grabbed her shortly after and told her she’s “not allowed to go back to Pete’s”.

She said a number of black boars lived near a river on Mr Jenkinson’s property and the conversation made her feel “uncomfortable and weird”.

“I’d never heard them raise their voices at the time. They were close friends,” she said.

Mrs Connelly reported an earlier conversation she’d overheard in which Mr Jenkinson told Mr Jones he had been seeing Krystal and she was “refusing to get rid” of the baby.

With tears in her eyes, she told the inquest she spoke to her father on the day of his suicide.

“He said he was going to hell and wasn’t coming back,” she said.

“He said he’d seen Pete or spoken to him and he wasn’t paying for what he did.”

The inquest also heard Mr Jones became “possessed” in the months after Krystal went missing, convinced Mr Jenkinson was responsible.

Susan McGillivray, who at the time was the owner of the Gunbower Road House, told the inquest he was constantly searching properties in the area for evidence.

“He was possessed with trying to find evidence, trying to find a body or what happened to Krystal,” she said.

She said in October or November 2009 Mr Jones came into the roadhouse with a green shopping bag and showed her an item of clothing.

“Steve said it was Krystal’s blood and it had holes in from stab holes and that was dried up blood,” Ms McGillivray said.

“I wish I’d taken it from him.”

She contacted a local police officer about it a few days later, but the inquest heard the clothing had not been found.

On Thursday, Detective Inspector Wayne Woltsche, who led the investigation for nine years, said Mr Jones was suffering from mental health problems at the time.

“I truly believe he was an erratic and emotional type of person,” he said.

“He’d supplied a statement and had come to the belief Mr Jenkinson had something to do with the disappearance. He never said he knew. If he produced something relevant it would have been seized.”