Witness to Bob Chappell murder breaks 10 year silence | 60 Minutes Australia

twenty-five-year-old Megan vas has lived a wretched existence for half her life home has been the streets where she's mixed with the wrong crowd and been addicted to heavy drugs but as down-and-out as she is Megan could be the most important witness in Tasmania's most controversial murder case nine years ago Sunil Fraser was jailed for murdering her partner Bob Chapel on their yacht she's always denied the crime pleading she wasn't even on the boat when he was killed and that's where Megan vas comes in she now admits she was on the yacht and she says she saw everything tonight she puts her own life at risk by speaking publicly for the first time Sunil phrases freedom rests on Megan vassa's evidence but is she believable so you know who killed Bob Chapel yes and it certainly wasn't Sunil frozen for ten years twenty five-year-old Megan vas has carried a terrible secret the homeless woman and former drug addict claims she knows what really happened to Bob Chapel the night he was murdered on his yacht in Hobart Megan could be the most unlikely Savior for Sunil Fraser who was convicted of the crime this young woman's explosive revelations could help set the 63 year old grandmother free if what you're saying is true then present then Sunil Fraser has been in jail for nothing what do you think about that up until tonight Megan vas has never had the courage to tell her story publicly she is a woman who is very very troubled but is telling the truth I don't have the slightest doubt about it and why because the objective evidence backs it up that evidence is her DNA that was found on Bob chapels yacht and it's enough to convince one of Australia's most eminent QCs Robert Richter that Megan is telling the truth the fact that she was a drug addict the fact that she has changed her stories from time to time does not make her an unreliable witness now because this account is the only one that fits the objective evidence and that's the difference why should we believe you now give me one good reason I don't I don't have a good reason really I think you do because I realize that it's a lot things don't a lot to say and with their family [Music] to understand why Megan is so vital to sue Neal Fraser's freedom we need to go back to Australia Day 2009 sue and her partner of 18 years Bob Chapel had been working on board their yacht the four winds [Music] it was moored in Hobart Sandy Bay in the afternoon sooo left to go home but Bob decided to stay on board overnight the next morning the four winds was discovered half submerged Chappell remains missing despite extensive police searches Bob had disappeared presumed dead Sue's daughter Sarah Balls remembers the shock their family felt mom must have been going through so much intense sort of emotions Bob missing presumed dead being a part of the murder I mean that stuff you know like we've never been involved in anything like these for police it was a straightforward case they always thought Sunil Fraser was responsible and seven months later charged her with Bob's murder even though they never found his body or the murder weapon though zeroed in on her and they would not bear the notion that anyone else could have done it how would you describe this case there's a forensic disaster principally started off by the fact that no one had an idea or a clue how to investigate this kind of homicide in Tasmania Robert Richter says by pursuing Sunil Fraser so vigorously Tasmania police didn't give enough weight to other important leads especially a massive pool of DNA found on the yacht deck by the time they'd matched the forensic evidence to 15 year old Megan vas Sunil Fraser had already been charged with the murder when Tasmanian police realized it belonged to a young homeless girl yeah shouldn't the alarm bells have been going off I'm sure they did but they were ignored because at that stage they'd already charged sue so you know it would have been pretty horrible for them to to come around and say my god we've charged the an innocent person and by then it was a bit late because the whole scenario they're constructed concentrated on suit but you can't just ignore that sort of evidence can ensure everything that made sense was ignored more importantly everything that actually fitted in what the facts was ignored tell me a bit about what life was like for you in Hobart no around that time I was living in women's shelters and on the streets this is pretty hard very hard what why was that did you have problems at home um you family relationship breakdown mmm at 13 I mean that resulted in women's shoulders and that's very difficult isn't it for such a young girl to it's been pretty massive as a young teenager Meighan vas was running with petty criminals on the streets of Hobart now at age 25 she's battle-weary why's it taking you this long to speak up I've had dogs lost my father I've been living on the streets I've been handed by everybody it's the right thing to do well what sort of things have you had to put up with well I've had my shelter I've had my safety of had no you know I haven't been able to fend for myself properly I've had no one to turn to do you trust the police really interviewing Megan vas is difficult it's obvious drugs have had a detrimental effect on her but she says it hasn't dimmed the memories of the violence she witnessed a decade ago are you clean now yeah yes how long have you been clean Oh finding racing it's been hard you're still trying to stay off it it's a struggle isn't it I can see that do you think this well this will help you telling the truth or am I being Megan's version of what happened the night Bob Chapel was murdered is completely at odds with the police investigation she says she was with her then 17-year old boyfriend who sometimes made money by stealing anything he could from yachts so on that day why did you decide to go out into the bay I would have been along with him um no doubt he would have been knocking things off boats for money to get on the get on the pier sand and that being the case I would have gone along come along with that but not so that I would so much steal wet I don't have a drink all you were just taking away yeah yeah was something that they he'd often Megan says the couple met up with an older homeless man together they decided to target the four winds not knowing Bob Chapel was there if they knew Bob Chapel was on board would they have probably not got on that yacht no man I got an answer for them I suppose [Music] what happened next is something that's haunted Megan ever since person that I was we've obviously been spotted pop up I been told piece off they've had an argument it's escalated he's hit Bob I don't know what with so he struck him quite a few that's all sorry 20 minutes it went on for a while yeah and then I also saw a little blood okay okay remember the guy you were with was hitting Bob Chapel can you remember what he was hitting him with no and and did you try to break it up uh uh what a time I'm gonna tell that like that saying to stop or to calm down but there's so much I could do mmm and he's small and here's a bigger bike or just I couldn't get him to calm down when you say there was a lot of blood were you downstairs where you want to deck were you in a cabin under coffee then what was your reaction to that it's one of thrown up either vomit Megan says seeing an elderly man murdered was so frightening it made her physically ill she vomited on the deck of the four winds and Act which branded her DNA to the yacht so what mistake did Bob make what did Bob do wrong nothing at all he just told his office boy he was just at the wrong place wrong time do you know what happened to Bob's body no nuts happen but whatever happened it's been aa wolf what was the second man doing oh I'll gather the white blossoms just call him down to the cabin did you go back to shore while they were dealing with that or did you stay on the boat I must have gone back to shore black out I can't recollect the hell but but you know that Bob Chapel was killed by one of the men you with is that what you're telling me are you certain about that did you see Sunil Fraser on that yacht no she wasn't there the whole night if what you're saying is true then an innocent woman has been sitting in jail for nine years yes coming up in all your investigative experience have you ever seen a case with so many mistakes missing evidence exhibit 9 completely vanishes but that's highly unusual isn't it but I think I've been sent before and serious flaws in the investigation but safe to say Tasmanian police know the name of the man that Megan now says murdered Bob Chapel they interviewed him for 38 minutes that's next on 60 minutes after 10 years of torment Megan vas has found the courage to speak publicly for the first time about Bob chapels murder on board the four winds she says she saw at all if you believe this homeless girl then Sunil Fraser who's been convicted of the murder should be freed from prison we've been a war and person than I was we'd obviously been spotted pop up I been told to piss off they've had an argument it's escalated he's hit Bob I don't know what with and then I saw I saw a lot of blood remember Megan was so shocked by the violent murder she vomited on the yacht's dick leaving behind a large DNA sample until now she's been too frightened to tell the truth and that's met the real killer is still walking free what's that man doing now and how angry is he going to be at you for telling the truth oops I'll just watch so again home to a family but why now after 10 years because it's the right thing to do but you know but you could have done it eight years ago nine years ago you could read out another trial can I stop please yeah well you can but I just want you to tell me from your heart I've told you I have no I don't have a legit legitimate reason for you but I'm saying that you know I'm here now and I like her to go home I would like to say her home with her family don't think she's petrified actually I think she's one of the worst cases you'll ever see of someone who was truly scared and when you throw in perhaps some of her induced paranoia through drug usage it's not surprising what her state is I think we should bear that in mind when you're trying to assess her she's carried a load for ten years and it's quite frightening Colin McLaren is a former Victoria Police Detective when you look at these documents in the verbatim six years after Sunil Fraser's conviction he trolled through 3,000 pages of the police investigation accessed through freedom of information what he unearthed revealed enormous flaws in the case including exhibits that had disappeared and important DNA evidence that was ignored in all your investigative experience have you ever seen a case with so many missteps or omissions or just mistakes I don't think is any gets anywhere halfway near as bad as what this is and there's a lots of loose ends in this and the loose ends just getting thicker and thicker as the years go on and never got Megan vest walking into you and saying that she was on the yacht with two men and one of them bashed Bob to death so this is not going to go away what Colin uncovered is alarming starting with these handwritten notes taken by the police forensic scientist who was gathering evidence on board the yacht after bob was murdered item number nine is a blue hand towel bagged for testing its location was pivotal found right next to Megan puddle sized DNA so suggest maybe she used the rag when she was vomiting or spitting or whatever these are the notes from the forensic officer there it is with a barcode there's no doubt about it she sees - you know there it is in the photographs that's on a deck of the four winds yeah it's okay but when you come to trial here's the the forensic list for the exhibits you've got normally exhibit number six seven eight and a jumps to number ten exhibit nine that I pointed out before completely vanishes what's happened to the blue rag that's right it's gone yet it was sitting next to Megan's DNA did you wipe the mouth on it but having an exhibit disappear from an official police forensic lock that that's highly unusual isn't it but I think I've been a saint before and we don't know what was on it that's right and it's probably still sitting in a cupboard in forensic science in Tasmania but it's it is science do you know it never goes away should be re-examined then there's two other rags found on the yacht they were stained with vomit but weren't sent off for testing even though the forensic scientists said they should be those two swatches of vomit sent or disappeared when you read the log be the one that goes to trial you can't see any mention whatsoever vomit and I ever say Megan told you that she vomited on the yacht so the key here is really different exhibits that are so crucial to Megan vests just disappear to top it off there's the puzzling decision of Tasmania police not to interview the man Megan vas says was the murderer did the police know before the trial of Sunil Fraser that Megan ves was running around with the man that she now nominates as the one who bashed Bob Chapel to death yes it's in when the lead detectives file do they interview him then no why not good question he should have been interview number one two or three so why wouldn't you interview everybody that she was with that particular night in 2017 eight years after the murder police did finally interview this man not surprisingly he denied being on the boat and killing Bob Chappell it was a very very brief interview but safe to say Tasmanian police know the name of the man that Megan now says murdered Bob Chapel they interviewed him for 38 minutes coming up we need for Commission the last hope for Sunil Fraser what would you like to say to Kirk oh really but will she be free but are you prepared to give those names to the police that's next on 60 minutes the scientific evidence proves that Megan vas was on the yacht the night of Bob Kapil's murder in 2009 but in trying to understand this controversial case what's undoubtedly confused and frustrated everyone is that up until recently Megan has Feminine Lee denied that she was there it's meant Sunil Fraser has spent nine years in prison the trial of Sunil Fraser you were 16 at the time yes what why didn't you tell the truth yes because I was 16 I was high I was scared of it's been daunting what were you scared of scared of everything tell me explain that to me well what if you know he's reaction maybe who the man who killed Bob yeah did he tell you to shut up yes now can I stop please for years Megan did what she was told and kept silent but in 2017 she signed an affidavit saying she was on the yacht but she wouldn't name the two men who were with her and refused to say what she saw eventually she even retracted that statement why did you change your mind then did anybody put pressure on you just feel a little loving well why have you let her sit in a jail cell for all these years no I haven't been able to recall all this haven't been able to I haven't wanted to I haven't wanted to so why do you want why do you want to set the record straight now because it's the right thing to do was Byers so you know who killed Bob Chapel please and it certainly wasn't so Neal Fraser what would you like to see happen to sue Neal Fraser couldn't we have to go home to a family I don't have one you know sorry sorry that's what I'd like mm-hmm you know the names of the two men who were involved in this murder what do you intend to do with that information I don't want to I'm not confident saying a name yeah but are you prepared to give those names to the police no no this is as far as after telling her story - 60 minutes Megan wrote another affidavit this time naming the two men who were with her when Bob Chapel was killed and explaining everything she saw Tasmania police refused to talk about this new evidence but Robert Richter QC says it's the breakthrough that case needs there is now an irrefutable case for the calling of a Royal Commission to explain how this comes about so it can never happen again [Music] sooner or later for sunil fraser to be released you'll have to go back to a courtroom yeah will you be able to handle that you won't go back on your story again how can you be so sure this time around just understand Meghan vas walks away from this interview free of the decade-long secret she's been frightened into keeping she's done it in the hope that will provide the key to finally unlock the prison cell that held Sunil Fraser captive for nine long years I can't give legitimate reason as to why anyone should believe me now given my track record yeah maybe I shouldn't but I'm here now and I'm doing all I can okay I can't do any more do you feel guilty for allowing an innocent woman to remain in jail yeah it's been pretty cool yeah so the day Sunil Fraser is released for something she didn't do will there be a happy day for you what would you like to say to her sorry for it oh really hmm my family you're sorry for not speaking up hello I'm Liam bartlett thanks for watching so keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

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Views: 674,712

Rating: 4.5614233 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Ray Martin, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Paul Barry, Peter Harvey, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, bob chappell, sue neill-fraser, murder, crime, tasmania, four winds

Id: YHkoS80Ln0w

Length: 26min 20sec (1580 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 10 2019