A bizarre ‘trio’ allegedly planned to kill Jonathon in a botched axe attack, before the axe man turned the gun on himself. They then tried to suffocate him with a pillow as he lay injured in hospital, as jury hears wild new details

Bizarre new details have emerged in the case of three lovers accused of murder plots that allegedly involved axes, pillows and a hitman.

Lisa Lines’ lawyers, Zacharia Bruckner and Letiticia Fortune, have indicated their clients will plead not guilty to charges that they attempted to murder Ms Lines’ former partner, Jonathon Hawtin, on separate occasions between 2017 and 2022 in South Australia.

Police allege Bruckner attacked Hawtin at his Adelaide Hills home in 2017 with an axe.

Mr Bruckner then shot himself with a gun, police said, making the axe attack appear to have been self-defence.

Mr Hawtin was left a quadriplegic as a result of the alleged attack.

And then, as Mr Hawtin lay in hospital recovering from Mr Bruckner’s alleged attempted murder, police allege Ms Fortune and Ms Lines conspired to suffocate Mr Hawtin with a pillow.

At an earlier appearance in Adelaide Magistrates Court in December 2023, prosecutors told the court that Ms Fortune had sent text messages about the gruesome plan.

Prosecutors allege she and Ms Lines planned the event for the early hours of New Year’s Day because there would be less security working at the hospital.

Ms Fortune is believed to have been detained by hospital security guards and fled the scene.

Prosecutors originally charged Hawtin with attempted murder after the 2017 incident, believing she had tried to kill Bruckner after beginning a relationship with Lines.

Mr Hawtin was acquitted of all charges following a trial in the Supreme Court of South Australia in 2019.

Mr. Bruckner and Mrs. Fortune were supposed to be lovers of Mrs. Lines.

Police also allege that from December 2021 through 2022, Ms. Lines and Mr. Bruckner conspired to have a hitman kill Mr. Hawtin and his mother, Rhonda, and undercover police officers allegedly obtained evidence of the alleged plot.

Ms Lines was arrested in November 2023 in the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau and later extradited to Adelaide to face court.

She left Australia and settled in Taiwan after Ms Hawtin was cleared of the charges against him.

She and Mr. Bruckner face charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to murder, while Ms. Fortune faces one count of attempted murder.

In a statement released by South Australia Police in November, Mr Hawtin said he was “deeply relieved” to see Ms Lines face court.

“This has been a cruel and exhausting fight, my mother and I have been through hell, but we never gave up and we never would have,” she said.

‘The events of the past week are the culmination of years of hard work and a determined effort by SAPOL’s main criminal branch.’

Mr Hawtin stressed that he was not in a relationship with Ms Lines or Mr Bruckner at the time of the alleged 2017 attack and that he was not aware of the pair having entered into a relationship.

The three defendants were summoned to answer the charges against them on Tuesday, but their defense requested a postponement to allow more time to consider the voluminous revelations in the case.

James Noblet, representing Mr Bruckner, Dominic Agresta, representing Ms Lines, and Mark Williams, representing Ms Fortune, have indicated their clients would plead not guilty, although no formal pleas have been entered.

Magistrate Simon Smart adjourned the hearing of the responses to the charges until October 3 to give the defence more time to consume the material.

Ms Lines and Mr Bruckner remain in custody, although Ms Fortune has been granted bail and has appeared in court supported by a group of people.

She declined to comment as she left court, while supporters at times prevented cameramen from filming her.

Ms Lines holds a PhD in Social Sciences from Flinders University.