A man accused of killing his wife told police about bringing other women to the family home for sex, complained about his wife's lack of sexual experience and admitted to "back-handing her", a court has been told.
John Bowie, 72, stands accused of murdering his wife Roxlyn Bowie on or about June 5, 1982, while the couple lived in Walgett, in NSW's north-west, with their two young children.
A letter "written in Ms Bowie's handwriting" was found in the home the night she disappeared, addressed to her husband, stating she was leaving.
Her body has never been found and the accused maintains his innocence.
The Crown's case is Mr Bowie killed his wife to pursue an unfettered, serious relationship with a woman named Gail Clarke, with the court hearing he spent Roxlyn's 31st birthday — 11 days before she disappeared — in Sydney with Ms Clarke.
The defence is arguing although Mr Bowie has admitted to being a "womaniser and at times violent, this does not mean he's a murderer".
The accused's affairs
The NSW Supreme Court on Thursday heard evidence Mr Bowie gave to police in 1982 and 1991 and to the 2014 coronial inquest into Ms Bowie's disappearance.
In a police statement made in September 1991, he told police although he had affairs, he "never intended to leave Roxlyn".
Mr Bowie said his wife became aware of one of the six affairs he had while living in Walgett when she found a letter.
He said all of the women he had affairs with except one visited the family home while his wife was there "for drinks, tea".
When asked by police if any women came to the family home in Walgett for sex Mr Bowie said "yeah, while Roxlyn was in Sydney".
During the 2014 inquest he agreed he had been a womaniser with "one or two women on the run at the same time" and although he was ashamed of it now, conceded he was not ashamed at the time.
Mr Bowie said one of the women he cheated on his wife with, Jean Picken, was his colleague's wife and one of Ms Bowie's closest friends in Walgett.
He claimed Ms Picken told him in late 1989 about a "letter she received from Roxlyn in about July or August 1982 (after her disappearance)" and claimed Ms Picken "wasn't too sure about the contents of the letter or where it was sent from".
He claimed Ms Picken told him she did not tell police about the letter because she feared "her husband might find out about the affair she was having with [Mr Bowie] in Walgett."
During the inquest, Mr Bowie was asked why he had never mentioned the letter to police.
The state of the marriage
When asked by police in 1991 why he cheated on his wife, Mr Bowie said it was because "Roxlyn was lacking experience in bed".
"She was a good wife and mother ... all she wanted to do was the missionary position in bed all the time," he said.
Mr Bowie added it was a good marriage without many fights and "during the years I was married to Roxlyn I gave her a backhander no more than five times and that was because of the state she got herself into".
"Not a hard slap, just a sting, I doubt very much it was enough to even leave a mark on her face, just to get her out of a hysterical state."
He said Ms Bowie's "state" only lasted for five months and was a response to the death of their baby girl Sharlene in 1977, who only lived for nine days.
"She had no reason to be scared of me," he told police.
The day Roxlyn disappeared
The court heard that Mr Bowie told police on August 19, 1982 — two months after his wife disappeared — that he returned from the pub at about 11pm to find his wife missing.
"Between 6:30 and 7pm I was at home with my wife and children when I said to Roxlyn, 'I'm going to the Imperial for a few beers'," he said.
"She said, 'if you do, I won't be home when you get back'."
Mr Bowie told police he did not take the threat seriously and it was something his wife had said before.
He said when he returned home he found his children asleep in their beds, and the TV and two lights on, but his wife was missing.
He went to a couple who lived in a caravan at the back of the Walgett property to ask if they'd seen his wife.
After this, Mr Bowie said he left his two children sleeping to drive to the RSL to buy a case of beer.
The trial has previously heard evidence from a witness who then searched the home with the accused, as well as people who were visited by Mr Bowie that night and the following morning to be asked if Roxlyn was "hiding" at their home.
The trial is expected to run for six weeks, with the Crown's case anticipated to conclude next week.
