Peter Koenig acknowledges that despite being appalled by Sharon Graham’s intention to murder Bruce Saunders, he nonetheless called her the night he put his friend’s corpse in a woodchipper.
A participant in Graham’s claimed “love triangle,” Koenig was asked back to testify before the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday as a result of fresh phone records.
Graham, 61, and his partner Gregory Lee Roser, 63, have entered a not-guilty plea to the murder charge after Mr. Saunders passed away in November 2017 while working on a farm north of Brisbane.
According to the Crown, Graham allegedly requested Roser and another lover Koenig to murder her ex-partner Mr. Saunders, 54, and make it seem like an accident so that she could collect his $750,000 life insurance.
The jury has seen video of Mr. Saunders’ legs sticking out of the chipper at the Goomboorian property outside of Gympie after he had cut down trees there with Roser and Koenig.
Prior to carrying Mr. Saunders’ corpse to the chipper, Roser bludgeoned Koenig with a metal rod, according to testimony Koenig had previously given to the court about his refusal to participate in Graham’s plot to murder Mr. Saunders.
Koenig said that in order to make it seem more accidental, he inserted the corpse through the machine but stopped it with the legs protruding.
Is it accurate to say that once Bruce passed away, you were appalled by what Sharon had done in concocting this plot to assassinate your buddy Bruce? Lars Falcongreen, Roser’s attorney, said on Wednesday.
“This is a plan that you didn’t want to be a part of?” Correct?’
Koenig responded via video connection, “Yes.”
When Roser called Graham shortly after Mr. Saunders was fed into the chipper, they assured her the work was over, Koenig had previously told the jury.
The court heard on Wednesday that Graham called Koenig minutes after Roser’s call, according to phone data discovered last week.
It also indicated that at 9.30 p.m. that night, when Graham was still on the property, Koenig phoned him and spoke with him for approximately three minutes.
Koenig concurred that he could recall Roser’s call, “bits and pieces” of the property owner’s talks that evening, and when an ambulance was sent.
But he couldn’t recall Graham phoning or ringing at 9.30 o’clock.
When Mr. Falcongreen questioned Koenig about whether he acknowledged making the call to Graham that evening, Koenig said, “If it is in my phone, I will have to.”
Mr. Saunders’ death was first reported to the authorities as a horrific accident by Roser and Koenig, who said their buddy had been careless around the machine but had ignored warnings.
Roser and Koenig had lied, Mr. Falcongreen had already informed the jury.
According to Mr. Falcongreen, Roser didn’t contest that Mr. Saunders was killed or that he “shamelessly” assisted in corpse disposal.
Koenig, who Graham obtained, was the one who carried out the murder, according to Mr. Falcongreen.
This year, Koenig admitted to being a murder accessory after the fact.
According to testimony given in court, Graham’s financial situation was “declining” at the time.
Kelly Beckett, a forensic accountant, said that between June 2016 and May 2018, she reviewed Graham and Roser’s financial records.
The jury was told that Graham’s initial balance was $121,000 but that it had dropped to little over $13,000 by the time she was detained.
Roser, according to Ms. Beckett, is in a bad financial situation.
Roser is scheduled to testify on Thursday in the trial before Justice Martin Burns, where the prosecution has concluded its case.
Graham has been granted a request for a different trial.