Jonathon Hawtin: Man left tetraplegic in horror axe attack allegedly orchestrated by his ex-wife Dr Lisa Lines and her lover speaks out as she's extradited from Palau

A man left paralysed from the neck down in a murder plot allegedly orchestrated by his former wife has spoken out about his struggles since the 2017 axe attack. 

Adelaide man Jonathon Hawtin, 36, was rendered tetraplegic after allegedly being struck repeatedly in the neck with a hatchet by his ex-wife Dr Lisa Lines' then-partner Zacharia Bruckner.

Lines, 43, who is charged with two counts of attempting to murder Mr Hawtin and two counts of conspiracy to murder, was extradited to Australia last week from the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau.

In a statement released after Lines appeared before Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, Mr Hawtin said he is 'profoundly relieved' his two children are safe 'after six long years'.

'This has been a cruel and exhausting struggle, my mother and I have been through hell, but we never gave up and we never would have,' he said.

Mr Hawtin said the extradition of Lines to Australia came after 'years of hard work and a determined effort' by the South Australian police's major crime branch. 

'The complexity of this operation is hard to overstate, and what they have achieved – working across international jurisdictions and coordinating with numerous other agencies – deserves special recognition.' 

He praised 'the moral courage and strength of character' of the police and said his family 'still faces a lot of challenges ahead. 

'These new challenges will require an equally committed effort, as we work to pick up the pieces and rebuild a childhood for my children.'

Lines' then lover Bruckner has been charged with one count of attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to murder.

They allegedly planned to have Mr Hawtin and his mother killed by a hitman who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Lines appeared in court along with Letiticia Fortune who is jointly charged with her for one of the alleged attempts to kill Mr Hawtin. 

This was allegedly set to happen while he was already paralysed and recovering from the axe attack at a rehabilitation centre in January 2018.

In the convoluted series of events, Mr Hawtin, was charged with attempted murder for shooting Bruckner, 30, with police assuming the younger man was acting in self-defence.

But a jury of six men and six women unanimously acquitted him in 2019 after three hours of deliberation.

In 2020, major crime detectives in South Australia reopened the investigation, resulting in a warrant being issued for Lines' arrest.

Bruckner was arrested in Brisbane earlier in November on conspiracy to murder offences and extradited to SA.

On Monday, Lines' legal team asked that she be released on home detention bail, the Advertiser reported. 

The court heard she left Australia and travelled first to Thailand and then to Taiwan. She later got citizenship and a passport from Vanuatu.

Prosecuting barrister Martin Hinton KC, said Lines had fled with the two children she had with Mr Hawtin because none of those countries have extradition treaties with Australia.

'It was quite fortuitous that the authorities discovered that she intended to travel to Palau and were able to at that time to be there waiting for her with the assistance of the authorities in Palau,' he said. 

The prosecution will allege that while Lines was abroad she conspired with Bruckner to hire a hitman to 'finish the job', in an alleged plot to kill Mr Hawtin and his mother.

'Little did they know that the person with whom they were speaking, whose services they were attempting to enlist, was an undercover police officer,' Mr Hinton said.

Craig Caldicott, appearing for Lines, said his client denied the allegations and would plead not guilty.

He asked the court to release Lines on bail so she could see her children regularly.

But magistrate John Wells refused bail due to the seriousness of the charges and because Lines 'remains an unacceptable flight risk'.

The case continues.