A former ambulance officer on trial for murdering his wife 40 years ago was "frantic and upset" when he asked if a colleague was hiding her.
"I told him he was free to search the house if he wished," Edward Gudgeon testified in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.
"I wasn't hiding his wife."
John Douglas Bowie, 72, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Roxlyn Bowie, who was 31 when she vanished from their Walgett home in northern NSW.
The Crown alleges he killed his wife on or about June 5, 1982 so he could have an unfettered relationship with another woman.
The Crown also alleges he may have disposed of her body by feeding her to pigs.
Mr Gudgeon said he worked the 2pm to 10pm shift on June 5, while Bowie worked the day shift.
They had watched a football match on TV at the ambulance station in the afternoon.
After Bowie finished his shift, he came back to the station between 9pm and 10pm for five to 10 minutes.
"He had had a couple of beers too many," Mr Gudgeon said.
"I suggested he go home to sleep and he said he was going to the club."
Early next morning, Bowie came around to his place wanting to know if Mr Gudgeon was hiding his wife.
"He was quite frantic and upset," he later told police.
"John informed me Roxlyn was missing and he asked me if she was inside my house or was I hiding her."
On his return to work, Bowie didn't appear to be coping well and Mr Gudgeon later learned he asked for a transfer to Sydney on compassionate grounds.
He described Ms Bowie as a devoted mother to her children
Former station officer Stanley Cornwell said she had been extremely close to her young daughter and son.
"Her whole conversation was always focused on the children," he said.
As far as he knew, the only transport option to leave Walgett on a Saturday night was by private car.
Colleen McKenzie Trout said when she moved to Walgett she became friends with Ms Bowie who was a "wonderful mother".
She once noticed she had red marks which looked like "finger marks" on the top of each arm.
On another occasion in 1980, she noticed her friend was wearing makeup and had bruising under her eye.
The trial continues before Justice Dina Yehia.
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