‘We sat with our dead mate under a tree’: Outback Wrangler’s bombshell after walking free

He’s out, and he’s not done. Outback Wrangler Matt Wright has unfinished business — and the questions he’s asking may be far bigger than his own conviction.

Wright believes he was the subject of a witch-hunt, with the NT Police conducting a “flawed investigation” into the fatal chopper crash that killed Chris “Willow” Wilson, and he is vowing to “continue to fight for what’s right to get the truth out there for my mate”.

In his first interview since his release from Darwin Correctional Centre on Monday morning, Wright told news.com.au he is appealing against his conviction.

“I’ve been respectful of the process and have not spoken up to date. I made the decision to go to trial in the hope of bringing hidden truths to light. This, unfortunately, was not the outcome,” Wright said from his home in Darwin on Thursday.

“I don’t agree with the Jury’s decision in my trial which is why I am appealing, and I am looking forward to this next fight when the time comes.

“I want to make it very clear, I did not kill my best mate. I wasn’t at the accident when it happened, I didn’t tamper with evidence at the crash site and I’m still at a loss as to why the police investigation didn’t thoroughly investigate the cause of the crash that killed Willow.”

Wright, who arrived at the scene after the crash in remote swampland in West Arnhem Land on February 22, 2022, was handed a 10-month jail sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was ordered to serve five months in custody, with the remaining five months suspended, placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and fined $5000.

The reality television star was not alleged to be responsible for causing the crash itself that claimed the life of Wilson and seriously injured pilot Sebastian Robinson. No one has been charged in relation to the cause of the crash.

An emotional Wright vowed: “I just want the truth out, I want the truth for Willow. All these rumours, all this carry on from when this aircraft went down, the amount of rumours that went around was ridiculous.

“The rumours were wild, from me going out there and draining the fuel, to concocting bizarre cover up plans.”

“We flew out there and we sat with our mate that was dead under a tree. We sat there for hours and hours waiting for the Careflight machine to return, grieving our mate,” Wright said, fighting back tears.

“The last time we all saw Willow was when we carried him on a stretcher in a body bag and laid him in the back of the Careflight helicopter.

“We walked around the machine trying to see what went wrong, but not really knowing what was going on, in shock. It was the last moment we were all together as a team, as the brotherhood we were.”

Wright said he was angry that media reporting of his court case was often “misinformed, biased and focused solely on tearing me down, not telling the truth”.

“Unfortunately, so many facts about the cause of the crash didn’t come out during my trial. I feel the entire investigation was a witch-hunt for me and didn’t achieve justice for Willow and how he was killed. I will continue to fight for what’s right to get the truth out there for my mate.”

Wright says he is appealing against the verdict because he doesn’t believe he should have been charged in the first place.

“I’ve been in the court for three years now and have respected the process by keeping quiet. But now I can speak and moving forward I will use my voice to get the truth out there,” he said.

Wright admitted to some pretty dark days, sleeping with one eye open, sleeping with a murderer, mingling with drug smugglers and men serving time for “shanking guys in the neck”.

“One particular fella, I had a good yarn to him … he told me how he went absolutely nuts on drugs and got a hammer out and started on one fella, made sure he crushed every bone from his toes right up to his head. And then he got a meat cleaver out. Absolutely nuts.”

He took most things in his stride, including having to shave his head and trading his clothes for prison orange.

“I had some wanker in there that shaved my head and was like, ‘pretty boys gotta shave his head’. And I was like, ‘whatever, I do it most years for charity anyway. Like, it’s not ideal, but it will grow back, hair grows back. I had more to worry about than a shaved head.”

Being “forced to stop and realise all right, there’s no going anywhere” strengthened Wright’s resolve to “fight for the truth”.

“I tried to eat healthy, train, and get a lot of reading and writing in. The food was good. What do you expect if you go to prison? You’re not going to get a five-star meal, are you?” he said.

He scoffed at the suggestion that he received special treatment in jail — in fact, he believes his public profile worked against him.

“I did not receive VIP treatment in jail, as was reported and I was never moved locations as reported. I was assessed upon entry and placed in CBU for complex reasons. That decision was made by Corrections for the safety of myself and other prisoners. I had nothing to do with it; one of the factors for their decision on placement was because I was a person they declared of public interest. To suggest otherwise was wrong,” he said.

“In fact, at all times, I felt like I was treated more poorly by the upper echelons of Corrections than other prisoners because it appeared as if I was being made an example of. The staff in the jail though, were absolutely respectful, no complaints.”

He also had a plea for local media: “I would like to ask the local NT media to think before they post shock jock stories and to fact-check what they’re saying. Every ill-informed story you write affects the day-to-day life of me and my family in this small community”, he said.

Wright missed the birth of his son, Sterling, by several hours after he was knocked back for release seven days earlier.

“After five months in the clink … it was five o’clock in the morning, I’m sh***ing myself thinking that this isn’t gonna happen after all the (knock backs) I had had for home detention and early release, and I thought: ‘I’m not going to get out’.

“I think Kaia was thinking the same thing. I had no idea she had had the baby because my phone was disconnected the week before. So we had no communication.

“She goes and has a little Sterling at 7.30 Sunday night. So close, less than 12 hours. Like, really? Was I that much of a threat to society to not let me out of prison for my kids’ birth? Like, wow.”

Kaia was told it was in the public interest for Wright to serve his full sentence, which expired on May 11.

Kaia told news.com.au this week: “I disagree with the decision to keep him inside until the final hour was in the public interest and the commissioner’s subordinates had recommended otherwise.”

Wright was also knocked back twice for administrative home detention, despite believing he had met the requirements.

“The prison is overflowing, and a CBU bed is in high demand; it made more sense to everyone for me to serve the second half of my sentence in Home Detention, freeing up a CBU bed to someone else,” he said.

“But I was led on a wild-goose chase, meeting the conditions twice, knocked back, then knocked back again. As a result I missed my son’s birth by hours.”

The ATSB report into the helicopter crash, released in 2023 — which is protected by the Transport Information Safety Act and therefore could not be used as evidence in the trial — found the chopper likely crashed because of fuel exhaustion, causing the engine to stop mid-flight.

The ATSB found the helicopter had likely not been refuelled at a fuel depot between Darwin and the crocodile egg collection area it had been travelling to, and the pilot had not identified the reducing fuel state.

The report also found that during the emergency forced landing procedure, the pilot released the hook holding Mr Wilson’s sling “above a height that would be survivable”.

During evidence in Wright’s trial, Robinson said while he had no memory of the crash due to his injuries, he accepted he “must have intentionally disconnected” Wilson.

The ATSB also found evidence in Robinson’s blood indicating he had been exposed to cocaine within the previous few days, increasing the likelihood of fatigue, depression and inattention, but ultimately determined that it was not a contributing factor to the crash.

During cross-examination in Wright’s trial, Robinson said he was aware that cocaine or metabolites had been found in his blood after the accident. He told the court he had no recollection of the weeks prior to the accident.

The 32-year-old admitted in court to occasional cocaine use and denied he was a drug trafficker, though he had sourced “very minimal” amounts of cocaine for other people and was paid.

Robinson has not been charged with any offence.

Wright said that he still “can’t fathom” how no one has been prosecuted over the cause of the crash when it was being operated by someone who, according to evidence, had cocaine in his system, and it was found by the ATSB that the chopper likely ran out of fuel.

The ATSB did not make any adverse findings against any individual.

When asked by news.com.au whether the investigation into the cause of the crash had now closed, a NT Police spokesman said: “The NT Police Force investigated both the crash itself and the conduct that followed. All relevant matters have been thoroughly assessed.

“Charges have been laid in relation to conduct after the crash, two resulting in convictions, with one still before the court.

“This was a tragedy in which someone lost his life, and another suffered life-changing injuries. Police had a duty to thoroughly investigate those circumstances. Beyond that, very serious allegations were made about efforts to pervert the course of justice after the crash.

“Those allegations strike at the heart of public confidence in the justice system. Investigating such matters is not optional; it is fundamental to the police’s role.”

When asked in a follow-up question whether that means there will be no further charges, the NT Police did not provide an answer.

SOURCE: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/i-did-not-kill-my-best-mate-jailed-outback-wrangler-matt-wright-comes-out-fighting/news-story/bdc22131abc0b6221e844340877ce6cb