A man on trial for the murder of his girlfriend's ex-partner claims he feared for his own life as he fed the man through a woodchipper.
The following story contains graphic description which some readers may find disturbing.
Gregory Roser denies killing Bruce Saunders but detailed to a jury how he helped his acquaintance Peter Koenig shred his body.
Brisbane's Supreme Court heard the alleged murder was committed in November, 2017, as the three men cleared trees from a property near Gympie.
Mr Roser told the jury he was gathering scrap timber, about 20 metres from the woodchipper, when he heard an unusual sound.
"I heard like a couple of wood cracks or gunshots," Mr Roser said.
Mr Roser said when he returned to the woodchipper, he saw Mr Saunders slumped on the machine, prompting him to yell out to Mr Koenig.
"I said what the f***ing hell is going on here," Mr Roser said.
"[Koenig] said 'well it's done now'.
"He said you gotta help me put him through the chipper now.
"I thought if I didn't do anything that he said to, I'd end up like Bruce in front of me."
Mr Roser said Mr Koenig switched the woodchipper on and hooked Mr Saunders' arm onto a piece of branch in the machine.
He said the pair grabbed the body together and put it through the machine "in one go".
"Was there any conversation between the two of you in relation to leaving the legs out [of the machine]?" Mr Roser's barrister Lars Falcongreen asked.
"When Peter stopped the machine, he said 'oh that should be enough'," Mr Roser replied.
'How could I get involved with anything like this?'
Mr Roser said they stood behind the machine for at least 10 minutes while Mr Koenig devised a plan of what to tell police.
"I was just thinking, 'how could I get involved with anything like this?'" Mr Roser said.
Mr Roser testified that his girlfriend, Sharon Graham, along with Mr Koenig, had been pressuring him to murder Mr Saunders for months – but that he repeatedly refused.
"Did they say why Bruce Saunders needed to be killed?" Mr Falcongreen said.
"He was annoying Sharon, plus he had heaps of money," Mr Roser said.
"I told them I wasn't going to be in on it," he said.
The court heard Mr Saunders and Ms Graham ended their relationship in February, 2017 but continued living together at Nambour.
Mr Roser said he met Ms Graham on a dating site called Brisbane Singles in March, 2017.
The court heard Ms Graham gave Mr Roser instructions on multiple occasions to kill Mr Saunders and made him take down notes.
The notes, in Mr Roser's handwriting, were shown to the court and included details about where Mr Saunders slept and when his alarm went off.
"I was meant to shoot him in the bedroom," Mr Roser told the court.
3.30 – 4 Aug – has to be there before he wakes up. Alarm goes off around 4.30am
Bedroom is directly through rollerdoor
Straight down hallway – bottom of hallway.
Nite light in kitchen –
Photo
Nambour - burnside
Dates to be done
14 July – 23rd in Adelaide
Monday or Tuesday off?
10th + 11th July
In July, 2017, Ms Graham gave Mr Roser a gun, which she obtained from Mr Koenig, the court heard.
"What did she want you to do?" Mr Falcongreen asked.
"Shoot Bruce with it," Mr Roser replied.
"What did you say?" Mr Falcongreen said.
"I'm not going to do it." Mr Roser said.
Mr Roser testified that when he refused, Ms Graham screamed at him, so he took the gun off her – but maintains he never fired it.
A second handwritten note shown to the court, contained instructions for Mr Roser to ambush Mr Saunders in his car.
Holden captiva
Slate grey
IGA Yandina
Fri or Sat 6-00
IGA Noosa
Park behind lawn bowls club
Start
Wed 7.30 Yandina
"Why did you make notes?" Mr Falcongreen asked.
"Every time I said no to her she started chucking a big tantrum, screaming and yelling and all that," Mr Roser said.
"She said if you don't do it, I could make your life very uncomfortable."
Roser said he was lonely before meeting Graham
The court heard Mr Koenig, who shared a "strange intimacy" with Ms Graham, would turn up at Mr Roser's house uninvited.
"He said, 'we have to do this, we have to do this killing for Shazzie because Bruce has been manhandling her'," Mr Roser said.
Ms Graham told Mr Roser that Mr Koenig had a mafia connection and knew people that "could get rid of ya".
Mr Roser said Mr Koenig told him that he had killed someone at an abattoir in South Australia.
"[Mr Koenig] said the best way to get rid of someone is to take them out fishing, knock em out, cut their feet, throw 'em overboard and let the sharks do the rest," Mr Roser said.
Crown prosecutor David Meredith grilled Mr Roser about why he continued his relationship with a woman he had only just met, who asked him to kill a man he did not know.
"From what you're telling us, she's a murderous, nasty woman," Mr Meredith said.
"I didn't think she was serious about it," Mr Roser said.
"Every time I'd say no, she'd come back and be nice again," he said.
"Why would you stay in a relationship … other than for the fact you considered doing this?" Mr Meredith said.
"I tried several times to break it off. She kept showing up at my door, crying," Mr Roser said.
"I was very lonely at this stage, because I hadn't been in a relationship for a while, I always said to myself before I'd get to 60 I'd be married," he said.
Mr Roser admitted he lied to police in his original statements, in which he said Mr Saunders had been killed in an industrial accident.
Mr Koenig has previously claimed Mr Roser struck Mr Saunders with a pipe, killing him, before feeding him into the woodchipper.
Earlier this year, Mr Koenig pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after the fact.
The trial continues.
Editor's note: On November 3, 2022, this story was edited to remove an address that was given in evidence.
