Zacharia Josef Bruckner charged with 2017 attempted murder of Jonathan Hawtin

A Brisbane man will be extradited to Adelaide over allegations he struck another man with an axe under the coercion of a woman, leaving him quadriplegic.

A Brisbane man will be extradited to South Australia over allegations he struck another man with an axe after a woman allegedly coerced him in joining the attempted murder plot.

Zacharia Josef Bruckner, 36, was arrested in Brisbane over the alleged attempted murder of Jonathan Hawtin in the Adelaide Hills in 2017.

Mr Bruckner is also facing charges of conspiracy to murder Mr Hawtin and his mother, Rhonda Hawtin.

Zacharia Bruckner was shot during the incident.

Queensland Police prosecutor Eddie Fraser told Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday South Australia Major Crime Detectives were seeking to extradite Mr Bruckner to Adelaide to face those charges before a local magistrate.

Mr Fraser said SA Police had also arrested 43-year-old Lisa Lines in Palau in connection to the attempted murder of Mr Hawtin.

“In October 2017, Lines attempted to murder Hawtin by coercing Bruckner to assault Hawtin with hatchet,” Mr Fraser said.

“Hawtin suffered such serious injuries that he is a quadriplegic.”

Police had originally charged Mr Hawtin with attempted murder after Mr Bruckner had suffered gunshot wounds to the hip.

Mr Hawtin was subsequently acquitted over the shooting after a Supreme Court jury found him not guilty in 2019.

Mr Fraser told the court on Thursday SA Police now allege Mr Bruckner “shot himself in the hip” and he and Ms Lines allegedly “staged a crime scene to make it look like Mr Hawtin was the offender”.

“Both lied in signed affidavits,” Mr Fraser said.

Lisa Lines has been arrested in Palau over the alleged attempted murder of Jonathon Hawtin. Picture: YouTube

Mr Fraser said a second attempt on Mr Hawtin’s life was made again in January 2018 when Ms Lines allegedly again tried to kill Mr Hawtin “by coercing a female friend to smuggle Hawtin while he lay in bed while recovering in hospital from the October 2017 hatchet assault”.

The court was told the “female friend” was stopped by hospital staff outside Mr Hawtin’s room and fled.

SA Police will also allege Ms Lines and Mr Bruckner have conspired to murder Hawtin and his mother Rhonda by the use of the hit man between December 2021 and the present day.

Mr Fraser said there had been “communication” with both Mr Bruckner and Ms Lines recorded by a person posing as a hit man.

“Lines and Bruckner engaged with a person known to police and expressed their intentions to have Hawtin and Rhonda murdered,” Mr Fraser said.

Jonathon Hawtin has allegedly had his life threatened on at least two occasions. Picture: Supplied

It will be alleged in court that Mr Bruckner spoke to a person on September 16, 2022, where he admitted to attacking Mr Hawtin with a hatchet in October 2017.

“Bruckner stated he attacked Hawtin and thought he wouldn’t survive due to the amount of blood,” Mr Fraser said.

“Bruckner then shot himself in the hip to create a self defence case.

“Bruckner explained that Lines entered the garage once hearing the gunshot, Lines called triple-0 and while on the phone in the garage Hawtin made a noise so Bruckner struck him two further times with the hatchet.”

SA Police will further allege Ms Lines told a person in October 2022 that she knew Mr Bruckner was going to attack Mr Hawtin in the garage.

The court was told SA Police allegedly recorded Ms Lines telling Mr Bruckner on the phone in December 2022 about “her fears of returning to Australia and her suspicious that they would be arrested for the 2017 offending”.

“She told Bruckner if she was to be arrested, he would also be arrested,” Mr Fraser said.

Mr Fraser said Mr Bruckner was known to visit family across the country “on short notice” and had recently been working in Brisbane for the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

South Australia Police sought to extradite Zacharia Josef Bruckner in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“The nature of the offendings were prolonged, calculated and having taken place over a period of five years,” he said.

“Both the defendants, Bruckner and Lines, have taken extreme measures and have gone to great expenses to have Hawtin and Rhonda killed.”

Mr Bruckner’s solicitor Zoe Kransky told the court her client did not contest the extradition and had engaged a South Australia based lawyer for the rest for the remainder of his case.

The extradition was granted on Thursday, with Mr Bruckner ordered to appear before South Australia Magistrates Court

Ms Lines was charged with two counts of attempted murder and with two counts of conspiracy to murder.

She has been remanded in custody in Koro, Palau.