Butcher was ‘forced into a woodchipper in love triangle-gone-wrong by ex-lover and two men’
It was initially thought Bruce Saunders had died in a tragic accident when he fell into an industrial woodchipper but now three people have been charged with murder
A WOMAN and two men have been charged with murder after the body of a butcher was found in a woodchipper.
It is alleged Bruce Saunders, 54, was killed when he was put into the industrial machinery on a rural property near Gympie, Queensland in November.
Sharon Graham, 57, was charged today with murder and perverting the course of justice while Peter Koenig, 61, and Gregory Roser, 59, had already been charged with the same offences.
Mr Saunders was initially thought to have died in a tragic accident while clearing a female friend’s property near Goomboorian.
However a murder investigation was launched when it was indicated the butcher may have fallen victim to foul play with the possibility of a love triangle motive.
All three people had been identified as persons of interest in the case.
Police today said Ms Graham had been visiting a friend in Grafton in New South Wales and was travelling to the Gold Coast to attend a medical appointment when she was arrested at Coolangatta.
The two men were arrested in the suburbs they are from.
In recent months, Police and the SES (State Emergency Service) had re-examined the country property where the death was discovered.
It was about 7.40pm on November 12, and Mr Saunders was mulching branches with the woodchipper when it was just beginning to get dark.
It was his third weekend helping out “as an act of goodwill” to a woman who had been recently widowed.
When police were called to the “horrific” scene after Mr Saunders was said to have fallen into the vegetation shredder, they initially thought it was a tragic accident.
Gympie Police acting inspector Paul Algie later said after visiting the property that it was “one of the worst incident scenes I’ve ever seen”.
Inspector Algie said at the time the two male friends tried to save Mr Saunders after he became entangled in branches and was dragged into the woodchipper.
“It was actually quite horrific. His friends discovered him as he became entangled and attempted to extract him from the shredder and were unable to do so.
“So they’re obviously quite traumatised now,” he said.
After reinterviewing the two men and other witnesses, detectives raided the property in February and seized “items of interest”.
Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford today said the investigation had involved many months of painstaking work.
He said while police could not comment on a motive, more details would come to light.
“This is just the first stage … it doesn’t stop here, the work will continue until a brief of evidence is compiled and the alleged offenders face court,” he said in a police press conference.
“We will be alleging it wasn’t an accident and they did conspire together to commit this offence.”
Detective Inspector Pettiford said he couldn’t comment if the alleged offenders were on the property but they were known associates.
He said Mr Saunders’ family was obviously very upset today but thankful not just to the police but to the community members who came forward to help in the investigation.
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The two men charged intend to fight the police allegations, according to .
In a brief hearing at a magistrate’s court the men’s lawyers said their clients would be defending the charges.
She was previously in a relationship with Mr Saunders and lived with him in Nambour.
More recently she was romantically involved with Mr Roser.
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