When Bruce Saunders’ body was found in a woodchipper, all that was left of him were his legs.
Gregory Lee Roser was convicted of the “most horrible and evil” murder, according to the victim’s son, five years after the crime was committed.
When Roser, 63, was discovered to have beat Saunders with a metal bar at a residence north of Brisbane in November 2017, he was given a life sentence.
Peter Koenig, a different man, helped feed the body into the chipper after that.
Blake Saunders, the son of Saunders, stated in an impact victim statement given in court, “My dad does not deserve to be remembered as the woodchipper victim.”
“My dad was a lovely, caring, joyful, hardworking man.”
Roser did not dispute that Saunders was killed throughout his five-week Brisbane Supreme Court trial.
Roser conceded that he had “shamefully” assisted with disposing of the body in the chipper then lied about it, telling police it had been an industrial accident.
Roser, however, claimed that Koenig killed Saunders while they were cutting down trees at the Goomboorian property close to Gympie.
The jury began deliberations on Tuesday afternoon, and on Friday morning, in front of Saunders’ family and friends, they returned a verdict of guilty for Roser.
Roser was emotionless.
Justice Martin Burns told Roser that Mr. Saunders “was nice and giving to a fault, which possibly became a fatal fault.”
Any good person couldn’t have imagined how Saunders’ body was disposed of, according to Justice Burns.
But you are far from becoming a nice human being, he told Roser.
The Crown alleged Sharon Graham asked her lovers Roser and Koenig to kill her ex-partner Mr Saunders and make it look like an accident in a bid to claim his $750,000 life insurance.
Koenig claimed Roser repeatedly hit Saunders with the bar as they finished work at the property.
He claimed to the court that due to Roser’s back problems, he assisted in carrying the body to the chipper.
Then, to make it appear more like an accident, Koenig fed Saunders into the machine while leaving the legs protruding.
Roser had pointed the finger at Koenig, who he claimed had Mafia connections and once boasted of pushing a man into a meat grinder.
The court heard that Saunders was slain after being caught up in a “love triangle.”
Graham was dating Roser and having “intimate encounters” with Koenig while cohabitating with Saunders, albeit in different bedrooms.
Although they were no longer together, the court heard that Saunders was still “besotted” with Graham and had drafted his will and life insurance policy in her favour.
Roser said Graham had plotted for months to kill Mr Saunders, asking him to carry out up to three different murder plans – at one stage borrowing Koenig’s handgun – but he refused.
She eventually came up with a plan to make it appear like a cheerful accident, this time including Koenig and Roser, the court heard.
Even while telling authorities that he attempted to save Mr. Saunders, who he claimed was “reckless” around the chipper, Roser revealed that Graham had procured him and that he had lied about the death being an accident.
The night after Saunders’ death, Roser and Graham occupied his bedroom.
Graham, 61, and Roser had pleaded not guilty to murder before the former successfully applied for a separate trial.
Koenig admitted guilt to being an accessory to murder earlier this year.
finding of guilty following QLD man’s beating and use of a woodchopper
About Author
