Constable Ash said Baden-Clay told him his wife fell asleep on the couch while watching The Footy Show about 10pm the night before.
“He didn’t know what time she got up,” he said.
“I asked him how the relationship was going and was there any issues within the relationship. “He told me that he’d recently had an affair which Allison was aware of and there was some tension between the couple due to the nature of the affair and that Allison did not trust him and that they had a counsellor who had advised him they needed to spend approximately 15 minutes a day talking about the affair and the information.”
He said the accused asked him not to share that information with his father or sister.
“He told me he had cut himself shaving that morning because he was in a hurry trying to prepare lunch for the girls, dress them, get them breakfast,” he said.
Constable Ash said Baden-Clay told them he had driven a few streets in the area in the Holden Captiva.
He said he then looked through the house, including the main bedroom and ensuite.
The jury was shown a photo of the ensuite bathroom as it appeared that morning.
He said he asked about any belongings his wife may have taken with her.
“He was unsure, then we noticed a handbag belonging to Allison on the floor just outside the main bedroom and next to the dining table where we were sitting,” he said.
“We emptied the contents onto the floor and we were looking for a mobile phone but we didn’t find one.”
The jury was shown a photo of the couple’s dining room.
He said the accused told him he thought his wife would be wearing gym clothes.
“I went outside and looked both in the Captiva and the Prado for the mobile phone,” he said.
“I located some medication that belonged to Allison in the central console of the vehicle, between the two front seats just behind the handbrake.”
Constable Ash said he took the medication out and placed it on the bonnet of the car.
The jury was shown a photo of the box of Zoloft prescribed to Allison Baden Clay that he found.
He said there was nothing in the Prado that was of interest and he failed to find the phone in either car.
“I asked Gerard for the phone number and I rang the phone several times and each time it went to message bank,” he said.
Constable Ash said Nigel Baden-Clay was sitting in a lounge chair.
“Whilst I was at the house, some other police officers turned up after a while and I went outside to the front of the house and I observed Baden-Clay’s father Nigel take a vacuum cleaner and a green garden hose and put them into his Holden Statesman,” he said.
He said he had been at the house for about 30 to 40 minutes when more senior police arrived.
In cross-examination by Michael Byrne QC, for Baden-Clay, he agreed the accused told him his father was helping him to do some maintenance at a rental property when he was found carrying the vacuum.
Constable Ash agreed the box of medication he found was empty.
He agreed Baden-Clay consented to him looking in the cars and through the house.
“At that point, being a police officer and being a first response police officer, I thought it was possible that perhaps domestic violence had taken place or something else had taken place,” he said.
