Mum must pay for Dads murder: sons
The Perth sons of a woman charged with murdering her husband say she has to pay for what she has done, even if it means her execution.
As Noor Ellis faces a murder trial in Bali, her sons Peter and John Ellis say they have talked about what could happen and are prepared for the consequences.
While the planned executions of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran dominate headlines in Indonesia, the trial of Mrs Ellis has played out under the radar.
In a brutal killing that shocked Bali, Australian businessman Bob Ellis was found dumped in a rice field on October 21.
He was bound and wrapped in plastic and his throat had been slashed.
Police allege that his wife arranged the killing and that money was the motive.
She has been charged with premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty in Indonesia.
Mr Ellis was well known in Perth and Bali and had an extensive business empire worth an estimated $30 million across Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand.
When she was arrested late last year, Mrs Ellis confessed to police and also to her two Perth-based children, Peter and John, that she paid $14,000 to hit men to carry out the killing.
But she has argued since that she was abused, coerced and "possessed by an evil spirit" when she did it.
In an emotional series of interviews in Bali at the start of her trial, Peter and John Ellis have described the burden they now face - if they push for justice over the death of their father, it could mean the death of their mother.
Peter said he was heading home from work on a bus in Perth when he saw on his Facebook feed that an Australian man had been found dead in Bali. He found out the next day that his mother had been charged with his father's murder.
"Mum felt like she wasn't being treated well enough, she wasn't given enough money," Peter said.
"And her only option in her mind was to murder my dad."
For the past few months, the boys have been dealing with the fallout of their father's death, his estate and their mother's shock confession.
As Mrs Ellis appeared in a Bali court this month and the allegations against her were read, Peter and John said they could not face seeing her.
Instead, Peter's girlfriend, Maddison McNeil, went to the court. She had known Mrs Ellis as a second mother, from holidays in Bali and a visit by Mr and Mrs Ellis to Ms McNeil's family home in Kellerberrin.
But in the grounds of Denpasar's courthouse, Mrs Ellis was handcuffed and accused of murder when she ran to embrace Ms McNeil as she had done so many times before.
Ms McNeil froze. Mrs Ellis told her she loved her and asked her: "Pray for me."
"She's still my boyfriend's mum," Ms McNeil said afterwards.
"She's still Noor. But she'll never be the same and we'll never be the same."
She said she had talked to Peter about the impact of the court case: the possible execution of his mother.
"I said, 'Well, if she does get death what happens if in 10 years' time and you want to talk to her again and want to ask her why or she wants to tell you why?'
"He said, 'Well, if that happens it happens', but he wants justice for his dad no matter what," Ms McNeil said.
