A woman has been charged with murder along with two men over the gruesome death of a butcher whose body was found in a woodchipper.
Bruce Saunders, 54, was killed when he was allegedly put through the industrial machine at a property near Gympie in Queensland’s east on November 12 last year.
Sharon Graham, 57, was on Tuesday charged with murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Peter Koenig, 61, and Greg Roser, 58, were arrested and charged with the same offences at 6.30am on Tuesday.
Police will be investigating several possible motives, including a love triangle gone wrong.
Sharon Graham (left) was on Tuesday charged with murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice over the death of Bruce Saunders (right)
Peter Koenig (left), Greg Roser (centre) and Sharon Graham (right) have been over the death of Mr Saunders
Mr Saunders, 54, (pictured) died when he was allegedly put through an industrial woodchipper at a Goomboorian property in November
Mr Saunders was working on a property on Tanana Road clearing vegetation with the two men when he was allegedly murdered.
When police were called to the property on November 12, they described the scene as ‘horrific’.
Gympie Police acting inspector Paul Algie said at the time it was ‘one of the worst incident scenes I’ve ever seen’.
‘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.
‘They’re obviously quite traumatised now.’
The death was originally treated as an accident, but police opened a murder investigation when new details came to light.
Police will allege the three people charged were known associates and ‘conspired together to commit this offence’.
Mr Saunders was working on a property on Tanana Road clearing vegetation with the two men when he was allegedly fed through the woodchipper
Police officers are pictured taking one of the three people arrested into custody this week
The three workers were lending a hand to a recently widowed woman who lived at the Gympie property.
When officers returned to the homestead to investigate, they discovered fragments of human remains.
They also discovered clothing and parts of a mobile phone they believe also went through the machine.
Mr Saunders owned and operated a family butcher shop in Bundaberg, north of Gympie, before moving to Nambour in 2016.
He reportedly moved from Bundaberg after the break down of a relationship, before starting another relationship in Nambour.
Mr Saunders’ friends and family were left devastated by the suspected murder of a man they said was always willing to help others.
Gympie Police acting inspector Paul Algie said at the time it was ‘one of the worst incident scenes I’ve ever seen’ (victim Bruce Saunders left and right)
Detectives are seen at the Gympie property where they discovered human remains last year
Maryborough Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford said on Tuesday Mr Saunders’ family was devastated but relieved after murder charges were laid.
‘The family is very relieved. They’ve been excellent throughout the whole process. They’ve been patient and very trusting of the police to do our job,’ he said.
‘They have been briefed and are very thankful.’
Det Insp Pettiford said the family was dealing well with a very difficult situation.
‘They’re obviously very upset today but obviously very thankful that this stage of the operation is complete,’ he said.
The trio will face the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Queensland police officers have charged three people over the alleged murder of Mr Saunders
When officers returned to the Gympie property to investigate, they found fragments of the human body and bloody clothes (pictured is the local area)
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