Killer Adrian Basham dumped by lawyers ahead of sentencing

Samantha Fraser’s killer, Adrian Basham, has been dropped by his legal team as he awaits sentencing over her brutal murder.

Murderer Adrian Basham has been dumped by his legal team before he faces sentencing over the brutal slaying of his ex-wife Samantha Fraser.

Basham was found guilty by a Supreme Court jury of murdering his estranged wife and mother to his three children in her Phillip Island garage before staging her death as a suicide.

Despite representing him during a lengthy six-week trial, his defence lawyers called an urgent Supreme Court hearing on Friday to notify the court they could “no longer act” for the killer.

Barrister Ashley Halphen said he wished to advise the court that “despite our very best efforts”, his team had “reached an impasse” with Basham.

Basham is yet to be sentenced over Ms Fraser’s murder, and will face a further plea hearing later this month.

Adrian Basham was found guilty of killing his ex-wife.

Samantha Fraser was found dead at her Cowes home.

Mr Halphen told Justice Lesley Taylor that Basham would meet with another lawyer, Melinda Walker, next week.

Justice Taylor replied that she “feared that was going to be the purpose of the mention”.

“May I sincerely thank you for everything you have done in the trial,” Her Honour said.

It took a jury less than two days to find Basham guilty of the 2018 death of his ex-wife.

Ms Fraser was due to testify against Basham over rape allegations years earlier when he murdered her at her Cowes home.

She had just celebrated her 38th birthday a day earlier when she was found dead after failing to pick her young children up from school.

The young mum had told a friend she was “ready for court and to tell her story” of the alleged rapes at a committal hearing on July 30, 2018.

But Basham killed her a week earlier, on July 23, and staged her death as a suicide.

Prosecutors later dropped the rape charges against Basham after he was found guilty of Ms Fraser’s murder.

Samantha Fraser was due to testify against Basham over rape allegations years earlier when he murdered her at her Cowes home.

Basham had earlier sought an adjournment of his September plea hearing so he could give further instructions to his lawyers.

The court had then heard for the first time from the children he shared with Ms Fraser, who gave moving victim impact statements over the love for their “angel” mum and bid to get justice for her.

Youngest daughter April, who was five when Ms Fraser died, said “no one could ever understand how his actions have flipped my life upside down”.

“He took the best part of my heart away by taking her away,” she said.

“It just feels like there is a gap missing in my heart somewhere.”

The plea hearing continues in court on October 31.