The trial of Anton Mulder, accused of murdering his Irish-born wife, has heard evidence the accused had spoken about getting all the cash he could and returning to South Africa. A witness also claimed he had a relationship with Mr Mulder's wife.
Mr Mulder (44), of Maelduin, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, from South Africa, pleaded not guilty to the murder but guilty to the manslaughter of his wife, Colleen Suzanne Mulder. She was found dead in the bedroom of their house on December 17th, 2004.
At the Central Criminal Court yesterday evidence was given by Johan De Waal, a South African truck driver who had befriended Mr and Mrs Mulder in 2002. Mr Mulder lent him money to buy a car, he said. Mr De Waal said that at one point he had daily contact with the victim.
In response to prosecution counsel Gerard Clarke SC, Mr De Waal said that, at a house party in the summer of 2004, Mr Mulder told him he had enough of his family.
He was going to max out all the credit cards, take out a second mortgage on the Mulders' house in Bangor, and return to South Africa with the money, he said.
Under cross-examination from defence counsel Roddy O'Hanlon SC, Mr De Waal acknowledged he had a good friendship with Colleen, but did not feel the relationship was an affair. However, he admitted it was sexual on two occasions.
He could not remember when they happened, but said relations took place once in Athboy, and another time in Bangor.
Following the party in 2004, the witness said he got a text message from Mr Mulder that he and Colleen had agreed the friendship with Mr De Waal was over.
Another South African national, Christy Koortzen, said that an upset Mr Mulder came to his home on December 8th, 2004.
Mr Koortzen, a next-door neighbour of the Mulders, said that Mr Mulder told him in their native Afrikaans that he was unhappy with Colleen and that "he felt like picking up a knife and making an ends of her".
Under cross-examination from Mr O'Hanlon, the witness admitted that he did not take the matter seriously enough to bring it to the attention of the Garda.
Mr Mulder's eldest son, Clinton, said he and the accused did not get on because of the way his father treated the family. "It was his way or the highway," he said. His parents fought a lot, and he said he was worried about his mother.
Under cross-examination, Clinton denied his father had ever spoken to him or voiced concern about his own behaviour. He admitted he never saw his father hit his mother or sisters.
In statements made to the Garda shortly after he was taken into custody, Mr Mulder claimed he "lost it" after his wife started to verbally abuse and threaten him. The court heard that in a statement taken by Det Garda Valentine Crosse on December 17th, he admitted his marriage was not good. He claimed they had a row that morning.
Mr Mulder claimed his wife said something to him, such as that he was "not a father to his children". He also claimed things were so bad in the marriage that he had picked up some literature about domestic abuse.
Mr Mulder admitted getting upset and that he grabbed Colleen's head in order "to close her mouth". He stated that he did not mean to kill her.
Det Garda James O'Sullivan who took a second statement from the accused, also on December 17th, said that Mr Mulder was remorseful throughout the interview.
He told Garda O'Sullivan that his memory of the row with his wife was not good but again admitted going for his wife because he had enough.
After he left the bedroom, he called a solicitor and asked him to get a doctor and ambulance, but insisted he thought his wife was all right. Mr Mulder added he would never hit his wife, and that "it was not in his nature to do this". Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis said in his opinion Mrs Mulder's death was due to compression of the neck as a result of manual strangulation.
While he could not precisely estimate how long the force was applied, it would have lasted for several seconds, but was not instantaneous.
The trial continues today.