Another article from the Daily Telegraph 17th April
"Mr Gilbert denies ever harming his wife.
He says the couple, who married two years ago, battled with drug addiction which worsened shortly before Mrs Gilbert's death, but says they had plans to go to rehab and 'get clean'.
The night of Mrs Gilbert's killing, Mr Gilbert said he was at his mate Benny's house.
He and Mrs Gilbert, 42, 'didn't do much' earlier that Sunday, as his wife was struggling with depression and didn't like to socialise or leave the house.
When he got home around 11.30pm, Mr Gilbert said he'd lost his house keys, so used a rubbish bin to climb onto the first floor balcony and access their unit from an open door.
"I came inside, everything was normal … then I went into the bedroom and Erin's lying on the mattress on the floor, covered in blood," he said.
"I just didn't know what to do … I grabbed my phone out and pressed the call button and it brought up the last person I'd rung, and that was Benny.
"I'm like 'Benny what do I do? I think Erin's dying, help me, help me, help me'.
"He said 'Have you called the ambulance?'... So I hung up and called them."
But in Mr Gilbert's panic, he says he was mistakenly put through to the wrong call centre and not NSW Ambulance.
"Someone was speaking Chinese on the end of the phone, I was panicking and stressing," Mr Gilbert said.
"Benny comes and sees Erin and says 'She's moving, she's moving' ... so I tried again to resuscitate her.
"I'm pushing her chest saying 'Please don't leave me, please don't leave me'."
Paramedics arrived and took over CPR, but Mrs Gilbert died at the scene.
He remembered a fight his wife had with a friend a week before her death, which he reported to detectives investigating her death.
Mr Gilbert denied the pair had a drug debt or owed money to dealers.
"Erin's been adamant ... she doesn't want us getting in debt with people," he said.
The Gilberts had undergone a government-funded unsuccessful round of IVF in the hope of having a baby, which Mr Gilbert says mentally and emotionally affected his wife more than they both expected.
"Erin took it really hard … she got depression and that, it really messed with her."
Mr Gilbert said he's tried to contact his wife's parents since her death, but hasn't been able to reach them."
April 17, 2023 | Daily Telegraph, The: Web Edition Articles (Sydney, Australia)
Author/Byline: Clementine Cuneo | Section: Nsw Police And Courts
897 Words
www.smh.com.au
