Robert James Wagner loses appeal over murder of Gerhard Wagner
A convicted killer who murdered his rich uncle, dismembering his body and dumping the remains in bushland, has suffered a major court setback.
A man who murdered his rich uncle, dismembering his body with an axe and dumping it in rural bushland after manipulating the elderly relative into giving him full control of his vast estate, has lost his appeal against his conviction.
Robert James Wagner is serving a life sentence for brutally killing his uncle, Gerhard Wagner, 61, at his Brisbane home in 1999.
At the time, he owed a significant debt to Gerhard – estimated to be between $84,000 and $300,000 – and was in a poor financial situation.
Robert was also living rent-free in his uncle’s Ashmore unit on the Gold Coast.
Gerhard Wagner was last seen leaving his friend’s workshop in Hemmant – a riverside suburb of Brisbane – about 3pm on January 7 that year, to visit his nephew.
His body has never been found.
Robert Wagner – who is Gerhard’s nephew – was arrested in 2014 following a renewed appeal for information by cold case detectives investigating Gerhard’s disappearance.
In 2019, a jury found Robert guilty of his uncle’s murder – with the court being told he used an axe to dismember the 61-year-0ld’s body after waiting in ambush for him at the Ashmore unit.
Robert then disposed of his uncle’s remains in the Glass House Mountains.
Supreme Court Justice Peter Applegarth sentenced him to life imprisonment.
During the trial, evidence was given Robert had persuaded Gerhard to change his will to make his nephew the sole executor, giving him a wide range of powers.
It included directing assets of a pending house sale into an account which was controlled by him.
Gerhard’s boat – described as being his “pride and joy” – was also sold for $95,000, with Robert withdrawing the proceeds from his mother’s account in 2001.
Robert appealed his conviction on multiple grounds – including that the verdict was unreasonable and that evidence from a key witness, known only as Mr ABC, should not have been accepted.
Mr ABC gave evidence during the trial Robert Wagner had confessed to killing his uncle over money and a “Gerni” – referring to a brand of pressure washer.
In the context of the trial, evidence had been given Gerhard was “ropeable” over Robert trading in a pressure washer he had been loaned and paying for it with his uncle’s money.
Robert argued Mr ABC’s evidence ought to have been rejected due to his history of “dishonesty” and the advantages Mr ABC had to gain for himself in giving evidence.
But Court of Appeal Justices Elizabeth Wilson, Jean Dalton and Lincoln Crowley found there was no legal basis for such a submission.
“It was relevant and highly probative,” the judgment states.
“Matters relevant to Mr ABC’s credibility were explored in cross-examination and in addresses.”
“The (trial) judge gave sufficient warning to the jury about these potential difficulties. It was a matter for the jury whether they accepted Mr ABC’s evidence.”
Robert also took issue with a diary entry dated May 1, 2000 – where he wrote “Is there anything in my statement which is suspicious?” in regards to giving a police statement about his uncle’s disappearance – being admitted as evidence.
He argued directions given to the jury about it caused the trial to miscarry.
“The appellant argues that the diary entry was more prejudicial than probative and should therefore have been excluded by the trial judge in order to ensure a fair trial,” the judgment states.
All three justices said the real question was whether or no such a diary entry could support an inference that the appellant had a guilty mind and was worried that he had betrayed himself in the police statement.
“The evidence was capable of supporting such an inference on a rational, not speculative, basis,” the judgment states.
The justices found no legitimate point raised in the ground of appeal.
“None of the grounds raised by the appellant have any basis. The appeal should be dismissed,” they continued.