'You would have died happy', woman was told

Felicity Drumm after giving evidence in the trial of Malcolm Webster at the High Court in Glasgow. Photo / Iain McLellan

A man accused of trying to kill his now-estranged New Zealand wife told her she "would have died happy" when she confronted him, a court has been told.

Malcolm Webster, 51, of Surrey, England, has denied in Glasgow's High Court that he deliberately crashed his car in New Zealand in 1999 in a bid to kill his second wife, Auckland nurse Felicity Drumm, to claim the insurance money.

He also denied murdering his first wife in Aberdeenshire in 1994 after a crash, the BBC reported.

Ms Drumm told the court: "I said it was quite clear his intention had been to kill me."

"He said I would have died happy. I had never been happier. He had given me love, marriage and a child. In other words, I should be grateful.

"I felt sick and I felt repulsed by him. I had intended to spend the rest of my life with him."

The jury heard that February 12, 1999, was the final deadline for Ms Drumm and Mr Webster to pay for a house in Auckland.

Ms Drumm, 50, told the court that, as they headed along the motorway towards her bank, Webster kept saying there was something wrong with the steering. The car suddenly swerved across two lanes and then back across.

"I grabbed the steering wheel and turned it towards Malcolm," she said.

The car ended up in a ditch beside some trees.

"Malcolm got out the car straight away, got round to the back of the car and popped open the boot.

"He said nothing to me. I had undone my seat belt. I was working out how I could get out. I would have been going out into a ditch.

"He screamed at me I had to stay in the car... I saw no point in staying."

Ms Drumm said she was unaware someone had put paper and a petrol container in the boot.

Despite the crash, she was still determined to get to the bank and her lawyer agreed to pick her up. The court heard that Webster then clutched his chest and said he was having a heart attack.

When she finally got to the bank she found all her savings, which had been in a joint account with Webster, had gone. Webster moved out their home to live in a motel.

The prosecution has claimed that on the death of Ms Drumm, Webster would have fraudulently received more than $1.9 million in life insurance money.

The trial continues.

- NZPA