Accused wife killer asked for guns back weeks before Samantha Fraser’s murder, court hears
Weeks before Samantha Fraser was allegedly murdered in her Phillip Island home, her husband and accused killer Adrian Basham asked for confiscated guns - that were seized by police after his wife raised concerns about her safety - be returned to him.
Law & Order
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Police seized guns from the family home of accused wife killer Adrian Basham, who allegedly used “veiled threats” to convince his wife to take him back, a court has heard.
Mr Basham, 42, is also suspected of setting fire to a back fence of the home before telling his slain wife Samantha Fraser, 38, that “you need me around to protect you”.
On the second day of the committal hearing at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court, Mr Basham burst into tears as his former neighbour told how she delivered to police CCTV footage allegedly showing him walk toward and away from his estranged wife’s home the day she was killed.
Her body was discovered in the garage of her Seagrove Way, Cowes home by police who were conducting a welfare check after Ms Fraser failed to pick up her three kids from school on July 23, 2018.
Mr Basham was charged with her murder more than a week later.
The court heard police confiscated guns located in a safe at the property due to safety concerns expressed by Ms Fraser following their second separation in 2017.
He made an application to have them returned weeks before she was killed, the court heard.
Ms Fraser’s mother, Janine Fraser, told the court her daughter feared he would shoot her, the kids, himself and potential even herself and her husband, Trevor Fraser.
She told the court accelerant was used to set fire to a back fence shared with a neighbour, who Mr Basham accused of having an affair with Ms Fraser.
Her mother said Mr Basham put out the fire and warned his wife, who had briefly taken him back, that “the house could have burnt down” and “you need me around to protect you”.
She told the court Ms Fraser was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder soon after and when she asked Mr Basham to leave the house, he refused.
Mr Fraser was “forced by fear” to leave the home and her three children in the care of Mr Basham, who demanded to keep them, her mum said.
“He made it clear he was not moving. He was telling the children mummy left them and didn’t want to be with them anymore,” her mum said in court.
Mr Basham stalked his estranged wife and warned her he knew “how to lift the sliding door” and get into her home, according to her mum.
“Adrian was very quick to use his size and volume to get what he wanted. Others could say these were stand over tactics,” she said.
Ms Fraser’s friend, Emily Bathgate, told the court Ms Fraser revealed welfare concerns involving Mr Basham, which Ms Bathgate documented and provided to local police to support her friend.
However these were not accepted as there was no threat against her personally, she said in court.
Neighbour Susan Grant said she told police she thought Mr Basham was the suspect captured on her CCTV cameras walking to and away from Ms Fraser’s home the day of her death.
This was due to his “build and the way he walked”, she told the court.
Mr Basham buried his head in his hands and sobbed at hearing this.
The hearing continues.