Alana Jane Bamber has pleaded not guilty. Photo / Pool
Alana Jane Bamber has pleaded not guilty. Photo / Pool
The wife of a slain dairy farmer, who denies his murder, angrily told relative strangers days before his death he'd been unfaithful with her bridesmaid and that she "wanted to make him suffer", a court heard today.
Canterbury dairy farm worker Tony Grant Waldron, 29, was found dead at his Gardiners Rd, Rakaia, home, 45 minutes south of Christchurch, on September 18, 2019, after failing to show up for 5.30am milking.
After a massive homicide investigation, Waldron's wife Alana Jane Bamber, 35, and her cousin, Joshua Dylan Morris-Bamber, 28, were charged with murder.
They deny murdering Waldron and are standing trial at the High Court in Christchurch.
Morris-Bamber's defence counsel Anne Stevens KC yesterday said the Crown's alleged four-minute window where he is supposed to have murdered Waldron in his sleep is "simply not credible".
Tony Waldron. Photo / Facebook
Today, the bridesmaid, Alana Wilson, denied any improper relationship with Waldron, saying in court allegations of an affair were "completely, 100 per cent not true".
"I loved him as a brother and that was that."
Two other witnesses told the jury Bamber had been "angry" with Waldron days before the killing and claimed that he had been having an affair.
Belinda Jane Rosewarne told how, in the week of September 9, 2019, she advertised board games for sale on a local buy-sell Facebook page that Bamber responded to.
They talked about price via Facebook Messenger before Bamber revealed her husband was cheating on her and that she wasn't coping well.
Joshua Dylan Morris-Bamber denies murdering Tony Waldron in September 2019. Photo / Pool
Rosewarne agreed to drop off the board games at the couple's Rakaia dairy farm, arriving to find two "crazy" barking dogs inside and Bamber, late morning, in her pyjamas.
The house was "unusually hot", and smelly, messy and dirty, the witness said.
Bamber started talking again about her husband's infidelity and was "really angry", Rosewarne said, saying that he'd ruined her life.
She said she "hated him and wanted to make him suffer", Rosewarne said.
Bamber was also alleged to have said Waldron was lucky that she hadn't killed him.
After half an hour, Rosewarne heard a motorbike coming and decided to leave.
Rosewarne, who had never met Bamber before, found the situation bizarre.
"Things weren't right from word go. It was just anger-fuelled the whole time I was there."
A pre-school teacher also gave evidence that on September 12, 2019 – six days before the alleged killing – she spoke with Bamber who was "very upset and angry" and "opened up that Tony had been having an affair" with someone in her wedding party.
She found Bamber "vacant", staring into space, and wanting to kick Waldron out of the house and to keep their children.
The Crown yesterday said Waldron and Bamber had split up days before the murder.
The trial is being heard at the High Court in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard
On the night of September 17, city hotel chef Morris-Bamber went drinking after work and afterwards visited Bamber at the Gloucester St, Christchurch flat she was staying at.
They chatted, the Crown says, for about 15 minutes.
Then, about 11pm, Morris-Bamber sent a Facebook message to Bamber, which was allegedly seen by a witness and reportedly said: "What is Tony's address? I need to get some anger out."
The essential piece of evidence – that Morris-Bamber denies – was not able to be retrieved because both murder accused allegedly deleted content from their phones.
Family members allegedly tried to stop Morris-Bamber from heading to Waldron's property that night but Bamber is accused of telling them to leave him, adding: "Better one life than two".
Waldron that night went to bed about 12.56am after playing an online video game.
The Crown alleges that Morris-Bamber drove for about 45 minutes south on SH1 to Waldron's farm, with cellphone data and CCTV from NZTA cameras plotting his movements.
His car, the Crown says, was captured passing a golf course going in the direction of Gardiners Rd at 12.56am.
The same car is seen passing the same golf course again, heading back to Rakaia, at 1.04am.
With driving time, the Crown says Morris-Bamber had "at least four minutes" at Waldron's house, which they say was "ample time" to go inside and fatally assault him while he was sleeping.
A post-mortem examination suggests Waldron was struck by a solid weapon at least three times on the side of his head, ear and neck.
Waldron suffered a fractured skull – dislodging a 4cm x 2cm fragment of bone - along with other multiple cracks and a broken jaw.
Morris-Bamber left at speed, the Crown claims, stopping briefly to hide "forensically important items" like the murder weapon and bloodied clothing that he would later allegedly move again. They would never be found, the court heard.
His lawyer Stevens says the Crown's scenario of a four-minute window is "simply not credible" and questioned the absence of any blood traces in his car.
Bamber's defence counsel Kerry Cook says she was not there when her husband died – and does not know what happened. She didn't want Waldron dead, or hurt, and "whatever happened was not her wish, not her involvement, not her desire, not her design".
The trial, before Justice Gerald Nation, continues.
