Missing Hobart yachtsman: murder charge

5:23 AM Fri 21 Aug 2009 GMT

'Bob Chappell - supplied by Peter Campbell'

A Hobart woman has been charged with the murder of her defacto partner following a long and complex police investigation.

Hobart-based cancer specialist and yachtsman Bob Chappell was last seen on his yacht moored in Hobart's Sandy Bay on Australia Day. Mr Chappell's body has not yet been found despite extensive searching of the River Derwent.

Fifty-five year old Susan Neill-Fraser, Mr Chappell's partner of 18 years, has been charged with his murder following her arrest at their West Hobart home, the ABC News reported.

The police investigation incorporated a team of six detectives and recruited expertise from interstate including the Victorian Water police and a naval architect.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell said it was one of the longest investigations he has ever worked on. 'From our point of view we knew fairly early in the piece it was going to be a difficult investigation,' the ABC News reported quoted him as saying.

Ms Neill-Fraser appeared in court yesterday afternoon and the case was adjourned without plea until today.

by Peter Campbell

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Missing Hobart yachtsman: murder charge

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