Officials at Bail’s notorious Kerobokan prison fear a Byron Bay woman could be killed in a revenge attack as soon as she’s released from jail.
Sarah Connor, 49, is set to walk free on Thursday after spending the past four years behind bars for her role in the fatal assault of a local policeman at Kuta Beach in August 2016.
Concerns were raised after a cop killer on the popular tourist island was recently murdered in Sulawesi upon their release from jail.
Sarah Connor, 49, (pictured) is set to walk free on Thursday after spending the past four years behind bars for her role in the fatal assault of a local policeman at Kuta Beach in August 2016
Officials at Bail’s notorious Kerobokan prison fear the Byron Bay woman could be killed in a revenge attack as soon as she’s released from her cell after a similar incident in Sulawesi
‘We want to ensure her safety when she is released from prison. We don’t want another revenge killing,’ Mr Suprapto, the corrections division head of the Law and Human Right ministry’s Bali office, told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Her safety is our consideration. Cases where victims are police officers can attract persecution.’
With the number of flights between Bali and Australia drastically reduced during the coronavirus pandemic, the mother of two could become a sitting target.
Connor may need to be held in a detention cell at Denpasar Airport until a flight can be made available.
When she eventually arrives in Australia, she will then have to serve a further 14 days in a COVID-19 hotel quarantine.
Prisoners serving time with Connor say she has grown paranoid in the weeks leading up to her release and will lash out at anyone she suspects is trying to take a photo of her.
Connor is pictured in hand cuffs during her trial at Denpasar District Court in Bali on February 14, 2017
Although she has retrained as a hairdresser during her sentence and took up painting, insiders say she has grown very withdrawn and now rejects any jail activities including exercise, arts and even food.
‘Sara keeps to herself and is not friendly. Not to anyone. She didn’t participate in our recent fashion show and never gets involved with dance, or anything that the jail asks her to be part of,’ a prisoner, who did not wish to be named, said.
‘She thinks people will sell her photo and is crazy and paranoid about that. She loves her ciggies and coffee and hanging out in a quiet corner.’
Connor’s ‘relaxing holiday’ turned into a ‘nightmare’ when her then British boyfriend David Taylor, beat a police officer of 35 years to death with multiple objects.
They included a mobile phone, the officer’s own binoculars and a Bintang beer bottle.
The holidaying couple were cuddling at the water’s edge at Kuta Beach before the killing unfolded.
An Indonesian court found that the now 38-year-old ‘DJ Nutzo’ confronted officer Wayan Sudarsa after Connor had lost her purse.
He began to frisk Mr Sudarsa before the situation violently escalated.
Connor’s ‘relaxing holiday’ turned into a ‘nightmare’ when her then British boyfriend David Taylor (pictured) beat a police officer of 35 years to death with multiple objects
Connor (pictured, left) holds a walkie talkie as she re-enacts the events leading up to the police officer’s death, with boyfriend Taylor (right) nearby
Connor was found to have put her arm around the policeman’s neck and sat on his stomach an was convicted of fatal assault in company.
The mum, whose children are now 13 and 15, claimed she was bitten by Mr Sudarsa when trying to separate the pair, and ran away, ending her involvement.
Taylor claimed he was ‘in fear of his life’, when he struck Mr Sudarsa over the head with a beer bottle.
When Mr Sudarsa was motionless, Taylor took the officer’s identification cards.
At Ms Connor’s trial, the judges said she cut up Mr Sudarsa’s ID cards not to protect his identity and stop them from being stolen, but because she panicked and felt guilty.
Connor is a mother of two and has not seen her children now aged 13 and 15, since the incident
Taylor later told Ms Connor the police officer was ‘passed out’ on the beach.
They had no idea, they claimed, of the seriousness of Mr Sudarsa’s injuries.
Dr Dudut Rustyadi, who performed the autopsy on Mr Sudarsa, told their trials it would have taken him at least two hours to die and had someone intervened he might have been saved.
Instead, Connor and Taylor returned to their hotel, cut up Mr Sudarsa’s cards and left for nearby Jimbaran later that morning.
Two days later, Connor turned on her mobile phone and learned of his death.
She has since offered $2,500 in compensation offered to the policeman’s widow, and has always maintained her innocence.
Taylor is serving a six-year sentence for his part in the officer’s fatal assault.
A man walks past the main gate of the notorious Kerobokan Prison where Connor is currently being held
Connor is pictured being escorted by attorney officer to testify at her boyfriend David Taylor’s trial at Denpasar Court in Denpasar, Bali