Tag Archives: oceania

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Melbourne catfish who impersonated Lincoln Lewis 'in denial' about her crimes

A woman who impersonated TV stars to attract victims online before stalking them is a pathological liar who continues to deny her crimes to psychologists, a court has heard.

Lydia Abdelmalek, 32, was found guilty of six stalking charges in 2019 and was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.

She pretended to be Home and Away heart-throb Lincoln Lewis and other aliases, including British actor Danny Mac, to stalk several victims over about four years from May 2011.

READ MORE: Rapist who dragged woman from Melbourne bus stop jailed

Abdelmalek was released on bail after launching an appeal of her conviction, but the guilty verdict was upheld in May and she was taken back into custody.

She is now appealing her sentence and appeared by video link from custody in Melbourne's County County on Tuesday.

Victims have called for Judge Claire Quin to use the appeal to increase Abdelmalek's sentence to deter others from committing similar crimes.

Prosecutor Angela Moran said Abdelmalek was a "pathological liar" who lied to psychologists preparing for her appeal.

"Anything that the appellant says should be taken with a great grain of salt because she is a serious liar," Moran told the court.

"She lived a lie throughout this offending, going deep into characters, deep into complexity."

READ MORE: Woman jailed years after running mail-order drug business

Abdelmalek maintained her innocence when she spoke with psychologists because she could not remember committing many of the crimes, Moran said.

"Despite not having a real recollection of any of the index offences, she respected the expert opinion of the judges and this is part of what was causing her to question whether she was actually guilty or not," she said.

Abdelmalek's barrister Timothy Sullivan said his client was in denial about her offending and argued Moran's remarks were inflammatory.

"Effectively, the power of the subconscious is that she's in denial," he said.

He said Abdelmalek's diabetes, time away from her parents and being held in protective custody would make her time in prison more onerous.

Judge Quin will sentence Abdelmalek on October 25.

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Woodchipper death 'didn't make sense', court told

At first, Sharon Beighton was in shock when told Bruce Saunders had fallen into a woodchipper in a "terrible accident" on her property.

But Beighton later thought it didn't make sense after asking Gregory Lee Roser questions about the tragedy, the Brisbane Supreme Court has heard.

Roser, 63, and Sharon Graham, 61, have been charged with murder after Saunders, 54, died while working on Beighton's property north of Brisbane in November 2017.

READ MORE: 'Love quadrangle' behind Brisbane man's woodchipper death

Bruce Saunders died while working on a property north of Brisbane in November 2017.

Beighton had fallen asleep in her house nearby while Saunders, Roser and another man Peter Koenig were finishing clearing her property near Gympie before she was abruptly awoken.

She said when she went outside Koenig appeared in shock and Roser looked like he was vomiting.

"I remember… thinking where's Bruce?" Beighton told the court on Tuesday.

"Peter said 'there's been a terrible accident'. Greg said to me 'I tried to save him, I tried to pull him out'.

"I said 'what do you mean?' and he said 'he went through the chipper'."

Beighton said she was surprised that neither had called police but was told Roser's phone had no reception and Koenig's device was dead.

She told the jury her property usually had "great" phone reception.

However, Beighton said Roser later told her that he had called Graham "down at the chipper" to tell her what happened, and had to ring an ambulance for her because "her blood pressure went through the roof".

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Roser is accused of killing Saunders by hitting his head with an iron bar before Koenig helped him feed the body into the woodchipper.

When Roser and Koenig returned from the police station where they provided a statement, Beighton said she started asking the pair more questions about what had happened.

She said Roser told her that Saunders had been an "absolute idiot on the day" and had been "standing on the chipper, leaning back into it".

Roser also told her that Saunders had been "woozy all the time" and bleeding that day after being struck on the head by a falling branch but refused medical treatment.

However Beighton said she had seen Saunders barely hours earlier and he appeared in good health.

"I didn't see any blood on Bruce so to me it didn't make sense. I think I was in shock (so) I didn't think to question a lot of things until later," she said.

READ MORE: Australia's oldest man dies aged 110

Peter Koenig (left), Greg Roser (centre) and Sharon Graham (right).

She also told the court that Graham had earlier told her to speak with Saunders about removing her from his will because they had separated.

However, when approached Saunders said "it's my will and I will have who I want there – I want to make sure she is looked after".

Beighton said Saunders had also said on a few occasions that he was "absolutely in love" with Graham and that he wanted to get her back in his life and would have done anything to keep her.

The jury has been told Graham was involved in a "love quadrangle" with Saunders, Koenig and Roser.

It is alleged Graham asked Roser and Koenig to kill Saunders and make it look like an accident in order to claim his $750,000 life insurance policy.

Police at the Gympie property after the death of Bruce Saunders.

Roser is accused of killing Saunders by hitting his head with an iron bar before Koenig helped him feed the body into the woodchipper.

Roser and Graham have pleaded not guilty to murder.

The trial before Justice Martin Burns continues.

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American held captive in Afghanistan released in prisoner swap

Mark Frerichs, an American held captive in Afghanistan for more than two years, has been released in a prisoner swap, a senior Biden administration official confirmed Monday.

"Bringing Mark home has been a top priority for President (Joe) Biden and his national security team," the official said.

Haji Bashir Noorzai, a prominent member of the Taliban, who was in prison in the US on drug trafficking charges for 17 years, was granted clemency as part of the deal, the official said.

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Frerichs, a US Navy veteran from Illinois, was kidnapped in late January 2020 while he was doing construction contract work in Afghanistan.

He was believed to be held by the Haqqani network, which is a faction of the Taliban. He was missing for less than a month before the US signed a peace deal with the Taliban.

Frerichs was able to walk on his own onto the aircraft, a source familiar with the matter said, and his physical and mental condition appear good. He is currently in Doha, Qatar.

Frerichs' family praised Biden for securing his release, with his sister, Charlene Cakora, saying in a statement, "there were some folks arguing against the deal that brought Mark home, but President Biden did what was right. He saved the life of an innocent American veteran."

"I am so happy to hear that my brother is safe and on his way home to us. Our family has prayed for this each day of the more than 31 months he has been a hostage," Cakora said. "We never gave up hope that he would survive and come home safely to us."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Frerichs's release and committed to working to free other Americans "arbitrarily and unjustly" detained abroad.

"Mark's soon going to be reunited with his family," said Blinken at the UN headquarters in New York. "The President had an opportunity to speak to them a few hours ago."

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Blinken said the US will "bring the same determination and focus" to freeing other Americans "arbitrarily and unjustly detained" abroad as was done for Frerichs.

"I want the families of Americans who are being arbitrarily detained or held hostage anywhere in the world to know that our commitment to them to bringing their loved ones home is resolute and we will relentlessly continue to focus on doing just that," Blinken added.

A Taliban spokesman said the swap was secured through a constructive "dialogue" with the US.

"Through dialogue, understanding and interaction, the freedom of Haji Bashar and the release of an American citizen showed that good interaction and goodwill is the most effective way to solve cases," spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted.

"There can be no progress in relations with Afghans through force and pressure, but on the contrary understanding can do anything."

Earlier this year, The New Yorker published a video of Frerichs pleading for his release – the first time he had been seen in years.

READ MORE: 'The Taliban's going to kill you': Teen's sadness despite escape from Afghanistan

FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2021, file photo Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about refugee programs for Afghans who aided the U.S., during a briefing at the State Department in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via AP, File)

"I've been patiently waiting my release," Frerichs says in the brief video, which he says is being recorded on November 28, 2021.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden Administration was committed to working to free other Americans "arbitrarily and unjustly" detained abroad.

Since her brother's kidnapping, Cakora has called on the US government to do more to secure his release, escalating those calls in the lead-up to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration secured the release of Afghan-American Naval reservist Safi Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil, a US green card holder, who had been detained by the Taliban since December.

Months of negotiations

The Biden administration undertook months of negotiations with the Taliban to secure Frerichs' freedom, a senior administration official said on Monday, and the President decided in June to grant clemency to Noorzai if it would lead to the captive American's release.

The official said it became clear that releasing Noorzai was "the key to securing Mark's overdue freedom," but the decision on clemency for the Afghan drug trafficker was a "difficult" one.

The administration does not see an equivalency between Noorzai, who was carrying out a 17-year sentence in the US, and Frerichs. Noorzai was not held at Guantanamo Bay, despite reports saying he was, the official said.

"We consulted with experts across the US government, who assessed that Noorzai's (release) to Afghanistan would not materially change any risk to Americans emanating from the country or the nature of the drug trade there," the official said.

Weeks after Biden made the decision on Noorzai, the President authorised the strike that killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul.

"As we also said publicly at the time, we told the Taliban immediately after the strike, that we would hold them directly responsible if any harm were to come to Mark, and that the best way they might begin to rebuild trust with the United States, with the world, was to immediately release Mark," the official said.

The official said the window of opportunity for the swap finally presented itself this month, and the administration "acted very quickly." But they would not say where Frerichs had been held during his more than two years of captivity, nor would they say if the US had given the Taliban anything else for Frerichs' release.