CONVICTED killer Susan Blyth Neill-Fraser today failed to convince the High Court of Australia of her right to appeal, but her family has vowed to continue their three-year fight to overturn the conviction.
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Chief Justice Robert French and Justice Susan Crennan dismissed the Neill-Fraser family's bid to appeal the murder conviction for killing Bob Chappell aboard the couple's yacht moored in the Derwent River in 2009.
The judges ruled that the defence had ``not shown she (Neill-Fraser) was denied opportunity on a point of substance''.
The defence had earlier argued that the original case at trial was hampered by a decision not to recall a witness whose DNA was found aboard the yacht.
Tasmanian Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis said the 15-year-old witness had already been “bashed by the trial counsel'' when there was nothing else to connect her to the victim except the DNA.
He said in the interests of justice it would not have been fair to recall her.
Outside the court, Neill-Fraser's daughter Sarah Bowles said the verdict was disappointing for the family - which was determined to fight on.
``We are extremely disappointed that, once again, we haven't been able to achieve justice through this court process … (but) we have already prepared a strategy moving forward.