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Home / World

Bali murder investigation: Dossier reveals Sara Connor's movements after police officer murder

news.com.au
24 Sep, 2016 11:25 PM6 mins to read

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British man David Taylor, right, and his Australian girlfriend Sara Connor, left, re-enact the killing of an Indonesian police officer at Kuta beach in Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP

British man David Taylor, right, and his Australian girlfriend Sara Connor, left, re-enact the killing of an Indonesian police officer at Kuta beach in Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP

In the hours after a Bali police officer was murdered Australian woman Sara Connor showered, called her bank to block her lost visa card, cut up the dead officer's ID cards, went to a shop to buy cigarettes with her British boyfriend and slept.

The next day they threw away the ID cards and went to the beach.

The day after that Connor and David Taylor - who previously lived in New Zealand for a period of time - went to the beach, the fish market and had lunch by the seaside.

On the third day, realising she needed to register her car in Australia, she turned on her mobile phone to find text messages from friends in Australia, asking how she was and telling her: "Police found your bag near the victim."

Friends suggested she go to the Australian Consulate.

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Before going there, they burned the clothes they were wearing on the night of the alleged murder.

Connor claims that David Taylor told her on the night of the incident the police officer had been peeping on them through binoculars as they were intimate on a Bali beach and not to worry as he was only passed out. She says she had no idea he was dead.

British man David Taylor stands with police officers during re-enactment how he kills an Indonesian police officer at Kuta beach. Photo / AP
British man David Taylor stands with police officers during re-enactment how he kills an Indonesian police officer at Kuta beach. Photo / AP

RECONSTRUCTED CRIME

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These details of the movements of murder suspects Connor, a Byron Bay mum and her British boyfriend are contained in a lengthy police brief of evidence seen exclusively by News Corporation.

Crime scene photographs contained in the brief of evidence show the brutality of the attack - the officer's binoculars, used to bash him about the head, lie smashed on the ground and the sand around his body is stained with blood.

The brief of evidence, known in Indonesia as a dossier, has been examined by prosecutors, who told police this week there are some issues they want clarified before accepting it.

Connor and Taylor faced further interrogations on Friday.

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Sara Connor after police interrogation. Photo / AAP
Sara Connor after police interrogation. Photo / AAP

Once the prosecutors are satisfied the brief of evidence is complete they will then decide the charges and bring the case to court.

Connor, 45 and Taylor, 34, are being detained as suspects and police have recommended that both be charged with murdering police officer Wayan Sudarsa in the early hours of August 17 on a Kuta beach.

In statements contained in the brief of evidence, Connor maintains her innocence, saying she played no role in the bashing murder of the officer and tried to pull her boyfriend away from the fight which originated after the officer was accused of stealing Connor's handbag on the beach. She says she was trying to protect the victim.

And Connor's desperation at her situation is evident.

ROMANTIC HOLIDAY GONE WRONG

"The suspect only wanted to have a romantic holiday, not like this. The suspect prays for the best for the victim's family and also for her family. The suspect feels extremely fearful. The suspect only tried to separate them and she thinks now she will be jailed only because she wanted to separate them," the brief says.

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Connor says in one statement that it was Taylor's idea to burn the bloody clothes they had been wearing on the night of the incident.

"The idea is from David as David felt fear. David burned the clothes. We feel fear as the place where that man died was the same place where we were. We fear that we become criminals," Connor told police in a statement.

A psychologist's report, included with the brief, sets out the desperation that Connor feels about her two children and her fears of being separated from them.

A psychologist report about Taylor spells out his regrets at failing "to help and protect the person that he really loves".

EVIDENCE TRAIL

The grainy crime scene images, taken in the dark in the aftermath of police officer Wayan Sudarsa's body being found on a Kuta beach in the early hours of August 17, are testament to the way he died.

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The crime scene on Kuta Beach. Photo / AAP
The crime scene on Kuta Beach. Photo / AAP

Connor's black handbag, alleged to be the reason a fight broke out with the officer that night, lies strewn on the beach. The officer's head and face is bloody, his body lying face up and spreadeagled on the sand.

More photos show the interior of room three at the Kubu Kauh Beach Inn, where police allege blood was found. The couple stayed in the room on the night of the officer's murder.

The photos show items found strewn around the murder scene, circles drawn around them in chalk to indicate potential pieces of evidence.

There are photos of the charred-looking remains of the police officer's smashed mobile phone, which was found a long way from the murder scene, disposed of near where Connor and Taylor are alleged to have burned their bloody clothing.

WITNESS TESTIMONY

The brief of evidence also includes statements from a hotel security guard, who saw the initial stages of the attack on the police officer but believed it was in jest and did not intervene as well as a motorbike taxi driver who refused to take Sara Connor because she had blood on her clothes that night.

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Pullman Hotel security guard, Suryana, says in a statement that he heard a shout from the beach (across the road from the hotel) about 1.05am on August 17 and went to investigate. He saw a local man lying on the sand, a foreign man with dreadlocks sitting on top of him and a woman. He heard the victim sighing and the woman laughing, like they were kidding around. Suryana watched for 15 minutes and left, believing it was not suspicious.

Indonesian police officers escort murder suspect David Taylor to an investigator's room at a local police station in Bali. Photo / AP
Indonesian police officers escort murder suspect David Taylor to an investigator's room at a local police station in Bali. Photo / AP

Later Gede Suartama, a motorbike taxi driver, known as an ojek, passed by in front of the Pullman Hotel. Connor told him she wanted to go to the police station to report her lost bag and drivers licence.

But Suartama would not take her, saying her clothes were bloody and he was scared of blood.

The police now have 14 days to conduct further interrogations of the suspects and amend the dossier.

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