THE 
PEOPLE
ROBERT (BOB) ADRIAN CHAPPELL
Bob was born in England in 1943 and came to Melbourne, Australia as a child in 1950. Bob excelled in science and eventually moved to Hobart, where he worked for many years as a radiation physicist at the Holman Clinic, Royal Hobart Hospital. Bob had two daughters and a son, and some time after splitting up from his wife met Susan (Sue) Neill-Fraser. They started living together when Sue’s two girls, Emma and Sarah, were very young – and they lived as a happy family unit in West Hobart. Bob had a dry sense of humour and was appreciated for his great cooking skills and his extensive knowledge of politics, history and literature.
Bob was last seen on Australia Day, January 26, 2009
SUSAN (SUE) BLYTH NEILL-FRASER
Sue was born in Scotland in 1954, and spent the first few years of her life in Edinburgh. She has a younger brother Patrick. She always had a deep passion for animals, often rescuing ‘homeless’ animals. Sue loved horses, and became an exceptionally talented horsewoman winning many competitions. Sue eventually settled in Tasmania buying a farm with her mother, in Bagdad, and starting a riding school.
In 1981 Sue married Brett Meeker and had two daughters Emma and Sarah. Brett, now her ex-husband, says ‘Sue was an extremely loving mother who worked hard in order to give our daughters the best opportunity in life – the kids are a credit to her, she is an exceptional mother’.
Sue and Bob met in 1989. They had a strong relationship – a profound understanding of each other’s unique personalities, intellectual respect, companionship, and a deep love.
Sue and Bob spent the last few years searching for a special yacht that would become their retirement ‘shack’. They finally found Four Winds at Scarborough Marina, Queensland and had only had the boat in Hobart one month before Bob disappeared.
Sue has been in Risdon Women’s prison since her arrest for Bob’s murder on August 20 2009. Her sentence has since been reduced to 23 years. Sue vehemently denies any involvement in Bob’s disappearance.
BARBARA ETTER APM
Barbara has had 30 years of distinguished police service and in 2008 was awarded the Australian Police Medal (APM) in the Australia Day Honours List. Barbara has been very involved in Corruption Prevention and Investigation. Her work includes: CEO of the Tasmanian Integrity Commission 2010—2011, NSW Police, NT Police, WA Police, Director of the then Australasian Centre for Policing Research in Adelaide, NSW Ombudsman’s Office, NT Attorney-General’s Department and WA Assistant Commissioner – Corruption Prevention and Investigation (including specialist support such as Forensic, Communications, Prosecutions). She won the WA Telstra Businesswoman of the Year.
Barbara holds a Pharmacy degree, an Honours law degree, an MBA, a Master of Laws and the AICD Company Directors Course Diploma. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and barrister and solicitor. She is an Adjunct Professor within the School of Law and Justice at Edith Cowan University, a Fellow of the Australasian College of Biomedical Scientists (FACBS) and an Honorary Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Policing (FAIPOL).
Find out what drives Barbara’s moral courage and her need to investigate miscarriages of justice!
PETER POWELL
Detective Inspector Peter Powell, Tasmania Police (TASPOL) was in charge of Hobart Criminal Investigation Branch in 2009. He headed up the police investigation although never testified in court during the trial.
Detective Inspector Powell says this case is intriguing because Mr Chappell’s body has never been found, there was no eye-witness to what had happened and Sue Neill-Fraser never confessed to killing him. However he is certain Sue Neill-Fraser killed Bob Chappell – no shadow of doubt.
It seems to me that there are too many incompetents out there, doing their jobs without a clue of the consequences that one mistake might imply, Especially when it comes to condemn someone for a crime like this one. Scary. I feel for this woman and I hope somehow the truth will come to surface.
I cannot believe in this day and age that a case like the Bob Chappel disappearance could be so badly botched, convicting a woman based on nothing more than public opinion, rumour and speculation from all corners including the police and the legal process. I thought that you needed to be convicted beyond reasonable doubt to be guilty. In this case, nothing could be further from the truth from the information I have gathered. When will we learn from the mistakes of the past and do what is right and just, or are we more concerned about protecting reputations and those who have a self interest in maintaining the status quo over the truth. We can learn from our mistakes by not repeating them and take corrective action to set the record straight if we have created an injustice. Remember, someone’s life is counting on it!