2.30 pm
Murder accused Mark Lundy told police he called on the services of an escort agency the night his wife and daughter were killed, Palmerston North District Court heard this morning.
Lundy is charged with murdering 38-year-old Christine Lundy and seven-year-old Amber in their Palmerston North home last August.
Lundy, 42,
was giving evidence at a depositions hearing to decide if he should stand trial for the murders.
In a statement to police, Lundy said he was staying in a motel in Petone the night of the murders.
He said he called an escort agency and a woman called Belinda arrived at his motel after 11 pm. She was picked up before 1 am.
Lundy said his relationship with his wife was generally good and they often "grossed out" relatives with their displays of affection.
But he said he and his wife had not an active sexual relationship for some time and he had used escorts before.
The morning after his wife and child were killed Lundy checked out of the motel, just after 8 am.
He called his wife about 9 am and was told she was "tied up at the moment" by a friend of Christine's, who said she would ring back. She did not call back so Lundy rang and left a message.
He said he phoned several times during the morning and left messages then continued his business calls.
He said he was "starting to get worried", and called friends who said they would check if Christine was home.
Friends called him as he was driving to say police were at the house and the road cordoned off.
Lundy said was stopped by police in Kelvin Grove road, his street, and taken to the police station where he was told his wife and daughter were dead.
Detective Jennifer Curran told the court she stopped Lundy's car in Kelvin Grove.
She said Lundy was "visibly upset" and when he got out of the car, he was "crying and shaking".
He told police he and his wife had recently looked at increasing their insurance cover from $205,000 each to $1 million, on the advice of the Tower life agent.
A medical examination showed Lundy's policy was going to be expensive because of his weight problem and hypertension so he did not go ahead with it.
