What happens when a man disappears from his yacht on Australia Day 2009 and police target his partner of 18 years as the prime suspect? The only suspect.By the time Sue Neill-Fraser is convicted of murdering her partner Bob Chappell, the court will have seen no murder weapon, heard from no witnesses to the murder, heard no evidence that puts Sue Neill-Fraser at the crime scene. And Bob's body is still missing.
Tracking the case for a decade, investigative journalist Andrew L. Urban presents the papers full of facts and findings that prove this is a wrongful conviction. And shows how 'the system' seeks to protect it.
In the wake of two failed appeals and after Sue Neill-Fraser has served 13 years of her 23 year sentence (and is now on parole), legal experts, academics and politicians detail the many errors that demand the conviction be quashed. Yet despite the constant calls for a review, Tasmania's Attorney-General refuses to establish an inquiry, citing misleading reasons.
The Exoneration Papers: Sue-Neill Fraser also shows how the Integrity Commission, the Legal Profession Board, the Tasmanian Law Society and the Bar Association all fell short of their stated functions in responding to complaints about the system.