Key Neill-Fraser witness understood to have changed her story again

The key witness in Susan Neill-Fraser’s appeal against her murder conviction has again changed her story, it has been reported.

THE key witness in Susan Neill-Fraser’s appeal against her murder conviction has again changed her story, it has been reported.

Meaghan Vass, a homeless teenager when Neill-Fraser’s partner Bob Chappell was murdered, was crucial to Neill-Fraser’s appeal bid.

According to a report in the Australian newspaper today, it is understood Ms Vass, who claimed in a television interview she was on the yacht with two men the night Mr Chappell was killed and that Neill-Fraser was not there, told Tasmania Police officers she lied to the show because she felt it was the only way to make the case go away.

Meaghan Vass appearing on Channel Nine's 60 Minutes during an interview in which she claimed to be on a yacht the night of Bob Chappell's death. Picture: Nine Network

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Neill-Fraser, now 65, is serving a 23-year jail sentence for murdering Mr Chappell, 65, on board Four Winds on Australia Day 2009.

Neill-Fraser has always maintained her innocence.

The Court of Criminal Appeal in 2012 dismissed her first appeal against her conviction, and the High Court refused her application for leave to appeal.

A right-to-appeal law introduced in 2015 gave Neill-Fraser a chance to apply for a second appeal, which she has now successfully done.

Sue Neill-Fraser's daughter Sarah Bowles addresses the media outside Hobart Supreme Court after her mother's bid for an appeal was approved. Picture: PATRICK GEE

Much of the evidence Neill-Fraser presented during her application to appeal related to DNA evidence found on the yacht that matched that of Ms Vass.

In a document signed by Ms Vass in April 2017, she asserted she was on the yacht on Australia Day 2009 with people she would not name and that Neill-Fraser was not on the yacht.

Ms Vass later told a court she was coerced into signing the document and it was not true.

Justice Brett also received an affidavit from Ms Vass shortly before he was to hand down his decision last month.

That affidavit, dated February 25, came to light after it was revealed during an interview on television program 60 Minutes.

In his decision, Justice Brett said the affidavit contained “direct and detailed admissions of Ms Vass’s involvement in the events aboard the Four Winds on the relevant night”.

Justice Brett said Ms Vass stated in the document that she was present on the yacht with two males, that she witnessed one of the males assault Mr Chappell and that she saw a lot of blood.

The affidavit did not directly address what became of Mr Chappell.

A photo of Bob Chappell, taken while on holiday with Susan Neill Fraser in 2008.

In a statement issued after Justice Brett’s decision was handed down, Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Richard Cowling said: “Police reinterviewed Ms Vass earlier this month after 60 Minutes’ promotional material suggested a new version of events. Further evidence associated with that interview will be provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

It is understood Ms Vass, when interviewed by police last month, said she had lied to the show.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by 60 Minutes, which said it had not paid Ms Vass for the interview.

Neill-Fraser’s lawyers are yet to lodge her appeal with the Supreme Court in Hobart.