‘Lied to save his own skin’: Barrister slams ‘star witness’ in woodchipper murder trial

Several plots to kill Bruce Saunders, whose body was consumed by a woodchipper, were found at one of the accused’s homes, a court has heard.

Bruce Saunders’ body was found in a woodchipper.

The barrister for a man on trial for the murder of Bruce Saunders, whose body was consumed by a woodchipper, has attacked the credibility of the prosecution’s “star witness” during his closing address.

Gregory Lee Roser, 63, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murdering Mr Saunders, who died at a property outside Gympie in November 2017 after a day of clearing trees.

The crown allege Roser fatally struck Mr Saunders over the head with a metal bar and was then assisted by Peter Koenig in feeding his body through a woodchipper to make it look like an industrial accident.

The crown allege Roser had been asked to carry out the murder by his then girlfriend Sharon Graham, who was a beneficiary in the will of Mr Saunders, her former partner.

Gregory Roser and Sharon Graham.

Koenig told the jury that Roser had clubbed Mr Saunders several times over the head then asked for help disposing of the body through the woodchipper.

Roser told the jury last week that it was Koenig who killed Mr Saunders. Roser then assisted in putting Mr Saunders through the machine.

Brisbane’s Supreme Court has heard Koenig was initially charged with murder but was sentenced on the lesser charge of accessory after the fact after he provided a statement to police implicating Roser in the killing.

Roser’s barrister Lars Falcongreen on Monday said the jury should not believe Koenig, the only witness who claims to have seen Roser kill Mr Saunders.

“(Koenig) was highly personally motivated to lie to the police to save his own skin,” he said.

“It’s harder to imagine a clearer motivation than that.”

Bruce Saunders.

Mr Falcongreen said Koenig used a stick to push Mr Saunders through the woodchipper then stopped it to so police could find his legs, he threw Mr Saunders’ phone in the machine, he wiped down the alleged murder weapon and drove it out of the property the following day in his truck. Koenig also told Graham the job was done and dusted the trail where Mr Saunders’ body had been dragged to the woodchipper, he said.

“Now you might think that this is a pretty impressive list of activities for an unwilling participant,” Mr Falcongreen said.

“It’s up to you ladies and gentlemen to determine whether you thought Mr Koenig was heavily invested in cleaning up the crime scene because in actual fact he was the killer not Greg Roser.”

Mr Falcongreen suggested Roser had helped dispose of Mr Saunders body because he was scared of Koenig who had just demonstrated in the “most definitive and chilling way” that he was a killer.

Roser initially claimed that Mr Saunders’ death was an accident, repeatedly lied to police and continued to associate with Graham and Koenig, the court has heard.

Mr Falcongreen said as soon as Roser assisted in disposing of Mr Saunders’ body “he was trapped”.

“His fate from that point onwards is inextricably linked with that of Koenig and Graham,” he said.

Greg Roser and Sharon Graham.

Graham, who pleaded not guilty to murder, was granted a separate trial earlier during the proceeding.

Prosecutor David Meredith told the jury it was Roser who was involved in the various kill plans from the beginning, he picked up the woodchipper on two occasions and drove it to the property, and he took the lead in explaining the fake accident story to police.

The court has heard there were three earlier plans to kill Mr Saunders including Roser breaking into his Nambour home and shooting him and a later plan to shoot him on his way to work.

Roser, who had written details about the plans at his home, said he refused to carry them out despite Graham’s requests.

Mr Meredith on Monday argued Roser realised these plans would attract police attention because they involved murder.

“That doesn’t mean he’s not willing to take part. What he’s unwilling to do is take part in such a stupid one,” he said.

Mr Meredith said Roser didn’t call off the relationship after Graham asked him to kill someone just a few months after they began seeing each other.

“Clearly she’s the ringleader and he’s an eager participant,” he said.

Mr Meredith said covert police recordings captured Roser and Graham discussing how they should explain certain text messages that had been sent and the accused preparing Koenig for his police interview.

He said the couple suspected the house was bugged and would say things for the benefit of police listening.

“But foolishly they then whenever it comes to something important, they start whispering,” Mr Meredith said, pointing out the listening devices could still pick up the conversation.

A device also recorded Graham telling Roser that Koenig could hurt him more than he could hurt Koenig.

“That’s because the truth is …Roser has been the one who has actually done the killing,” Mr Meredith said.

He also highlighted a text message from Roser to Graham saying she “always got what she wanted”.

“When she is giving him a hard time he complains basically in code ‘hey, I killed someone for you, you got what you wanted’ .... She realises the danger of that and then she threatens him back,” he said.

When giving evidence Roser said the messages referred to him doing a lot of work for her around the house.

Mr Meredith’s closing address continues on Tuesday.

Originally published as ‘Lied to save his own skin’: Barrister slams ‘star witness’ in woodchipper murder trial