Supreme Court of Tasmania building in Hobart — Credit: Barrylb · Public domain
Bob Chappell, a 65-year-old radiation oncology medical physicist from Hobart, disappeared on 26 January 2009 while working aboard the yacht Four Winds, moored in the River Derwent off Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay. His body was never found. Chappell's partner of 18 years, Susan Neill-Fraser, had been with him earlier that day and returned to shore by dinghy, leaving him aboard. When police boarded the sinking yacht the next morning, they found blood on the steps, a blood-stained knife and torch, and evidence that a toilet pipe and a hidden seacock had been deliberately opened to flood the vessel — damage investigators concluded required intimate knowledge of the yacht.
A witness reported seeing a dinghy matching the yacht's tender heading toward Four Winds late that night. Over subsequent months, Neill-Fraser gave police and media a series of shifting accounts of her movements on the evening of 26 January, eventually admitting she had returned to the Marieville Esplanade area that night, contradicting her initial statutory declaration that she had stayed home. She was charged with murder on 20 August 2009.
During pre-trial proceedings, DNA recovered from the yacht's deck was matched to Meaghan Vass, who was 15 and homeless at the time. At trial in 2010, Vass denied ever having been aboard the yacht. The Crown argued that no stranger could have both killed Chappell and disposed of his body using the yacht's winch system, and that Neill-Fraser's changing account reflected consciousness of guilt. On 15 October 2010, a jury unanimously found Neill-Fraser guilty of murder; she was sentenced on 27 October 2010 to 26 years' imprisonment, later reduced on appeal to 23 years with a 13-year non-parole period.
A 2014 coroner's report reaffirmed the trial findings, concluding there was no credible evidence anyone other than Neill-Fraser was responsible. Subsequent appeals were unsuccessful, including a High Court special leave refusal in 2012. A second appeal was permitted after Meaghan Vass made a 2017 statutory declaration claiming she had been on the yacht with others and that Neill-Fraser was not present; the State alleged this declaration had been fabricated by a former detective, and three other people were separately charged over efforts to obtain exculpatory evidence. During the 2021 appeal hearing, Vass again reversed her account, ultimately conceding under cross-examination that she had never been on the yacht. The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the second appeal by majority on 30 November 2021, with one judge dissenting on the basis of a substantial miscarriage of justice. The High Court refused special leave to appeal that decision on 12 August 2022.
Neill-Fraser was granted parole in September 2022 and released on 4 October 2022, subject to conditions later including restrictions on public claims of innocence, which have themselves become the subject of a further legal challenge. Political figures including Andrew Wilkie and former Premier Lara Giddings have publicly questioned the conviction, while the case has also been covered extensively in Australian true-crime media.
Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay, River Derwent, Hobart
Case status
solved
Case timeline
2009-01-26
Bob Chappell disappears while working aboard the yacht Four Winds moored off Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay; his body is never found.
2009-01-27
Police board the sinking Four Winds, finding blood evidence and signs the vessel had been deliberately flooded.
2009-01-28
Neill-Fraser makes a statutory declaration stating she stayed home alone the night of 26 January.
2009-03-13
Neill-Fraser tells an ABC journalist she had in fact driven back to the yacht area that night.
2009-08-20
Neill-Fraser is arrested and charged with murder.
2010-03-15
DNA from the yacht's deck is matched to Meaghan Vass.
2010-08
Trial begins before Justice Alan Blow in the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
2010-10-15
Neill-Fraser is found guilty of murder by unanimous jury verdict.
2010-10-27
Neill-Fraser is sentenced to 26 years' imprisonment with an 18-year non-parole period.
2011-08-11
First appeal against conviction and sentence is heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
2012-09-07
High Court of Australia refuses special leave to appeal the conviction.
2014-01-17
Coroner Glen Hay issues a report affirming the trial findings and declining a separate inquest.
2017
Meaghan Vass makes a statutory declaration claiming her trial evidence was false.
2019-03-21
Neill-Fraser is granted leave to bring a second appeal based on fresh and compelling evidence.
2021-03-01
Second appeal hearing begins; Meaghan Vass gives evidence implicating another person before recanting under cross-examination.
2021-11-30
Court of Criminal Appeal dismisses the second appeal by majority, with one judge dissenting.
2022-08-12
High Court of Australia refuses special leave to appeal the dismissal of the second appeal.
2022-09-16
Parole Board of Tasmania grants Neill-Fraser parole.
2022-10-04
Neill-Fraser is released from prison on parole.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
60 Minutes Australia / 3 min
Tortured witness to Bob Chappell's brutal murder | 60 Minutes Australia
People
Susan Neill-Fraser
CONVICTED
De facto partner of Bob Chappell; convicted of his murder in 2010, with subsequent appeals dismissed; granted parole in 2022.
Stephen Gleeson
CONVICTED
Charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice in connection with evidence in Neill-Fraser's appeal proceedings; pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
Bob Chappell
VICTIM
Radiation oncology medical physicist who disappeared from the yacht Four Winds on 26 January 2009 and whose body was never found.
Jeffrey Thompson
ACQUITTED
Solicitor charged with perverting the course of justice over a photoboard identification procedure; later discharged from all proceedings following a pretrial ruling.
Karen Keefe
CHARGED
Charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice and one of corrupting a witness in connection with the appeal proceedings.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Bob Chappell disappeared from his yacht Four Winds in Hobart on 26 January 2009 and his body was never found; his partner Susan Neill-Fraser was convicted of his murder in 2010, a conviction upheld through multiple appeals despite ongoing controversy over DNA evidence and a key witness's recanted testimony.
Where did the murder happen?
Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay, River Derwent, Hobart.
Who was convicted?
Susan Neill-Fraser (De facto partner of Bob Chappell; convicted of his murder in 2010, with subsequent appeals dismissed; granted parole in 2022.) and Stephen Gleeson (Charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice in connection with evidence in Neill-Fraser's appeal proceedings; pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.).
