The Second part for NBC
4.30pm: Nigel Baden-Clay said three lots of police arrived at the Baden-Clay home on Brookfield Rd on the morning of April 20, 2012.
Mr Baden-Clay said he drove home in his daughter Olivia Walton’s car but became unclear when it came to the chronology on whether he had walked to the Brookfield State School to pick it up.
He said he did not remember seeing Ms Baden-Clay’s parents at the house that morning.
“Very close with my son and I loved Allison as a daughter in law,” he said.
“They were a very private couple and we were unaware of the depression Allison was suffering until probably four or five years into their marriage.”
He said the couple seemed to be happily married in 2012.
Mr Baden-Clay said he did not talk to his son about the state of his real estate business.
In cross-examination by Michael Byrne QC, for Baden-Clay, Mr Baden-Clay said he was employed as a salesperson in his son’s business and also did the accounts for the business.
He said he had a salesperson license and upgraded it to a real estate agent license.
Mr Baden-Clay said his wife also had a real estate license but mostly did administration work and “prospecting”, or phoning new clients.
“Less on a business footing in later years, of course, because apart from the signs I had no further input into the business,” he said.
He said that fairly early in the marriage of Baden-Clay and his wife, they were asked not to show up and visit without phoning first.
“They didn’t readily share with us any aspects of their marriage or their relationship,” he said.
Mr Baden-Clay said he became aware of his daughter-in-law’s depression when she phoned his wife Elaine one day.
“Elaine explained to me that Allison had broken down in tears and told her that she was suffering from some illness and she didn’t know what was wrong with her and Elaine had advised her to seek help,” he said.
He said his wife recommended Ms Baden-Clay see a GP they trusted, who referred her on to a psychiatric specialist.
Mr Baden-Clay said he saw manifestations of his daughter-in-law’s depression.
“Often when we would go round to the house we would find the curtains or blinds drawn and the house in semi-darkness and frequently Allison would be laying on the sofa, that was the sort of manifestation we experienced,” he said.
He said despite the couple’s desire for privacy, he and his wife always felt welcome in their home.
Mr Baden-Clay said his new grandson was born on April 18, 2012.
He said the Baden-Clay girls came to his place at Durness St for a barbecue on the evening of April 19, 2012.
He told the jury he did not speak to his son or daughter-in-law that night.
Mr Baden-Clay agreed his son called him about 6.45am on April 20, 2012.
He said his son immediately went to search for his wife when he got to the house on Brookfield Rd.
Mr Baden-Clay said his son was “anxious and worried” about his wife when he arrived.
“He knew she was going to a real estate seminar … ,’’ he said.
He said the first police to arrive were two constables who were there for around 20 minutes before two sergeants arrived and later, two officers from Homicide.
Mr Baden-Clay said he received a phone call from Ms Walton at 10am who asked him to pick up one of the Baden-Clay girls from school because she was feeling a bit anxious.
The trial will resume on Monday at 10am.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/na...ing-wife-allison/story-fnii5v70-1226951597398