Gerard Baden-Clay killed his wife to 'wipe the slate clean', says Crown

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/09/baden-clay-killed-wife-wipe-slate-clean

Version 0 of 1.

Former Brisbane real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay wanted to "wipe the slate clean" when he violently killed his wife after years of living a double life, prosecutors say.

Crown prosecutor Todd Fuller has delivered his closing address in Baden-Clay's murder trial in Brisbane.

Fuller told jurors all the evidence pointed to Baden-Clay having murdered his wife Allison in a close, personal struggle in April 2012.

He referred to evidence such as Allison's blood in the couple's car, scratches on Baden-Clay's cheek, long-term tension in the 43-year-old's relationship with his wife and mistress, and financial pressures.

The prosecutor said Baden-Clay was confronted on 19 April 2012 with the prospect of his wife and mistress crossing paths the following day at the same real estate conference, and being exposed "for the man he was".

"Perhaps he felt that he had no other choice, no other choice but to take his wife's life," Fuller told the jury.

Jurors might think Baden-Clay's explanations for some of the evidence were "highly unusual", especially his story about how he cut himself with a razor to explain scratches on his face, Fuller said.

He said the marks were caused by Allison's fingernails in a close, personal and violent struggle with her husband.

"What would have been in this man's mind as he carried that out, to bring it all to an end?" Fuller said.

"His frustrations from his marriage, the frustrations in his life not going where he thought it would be? The double life, the daily deceptions, the risk to him of it all coming crashing down?

"Like he told [relationships counsellor] Carmel Ritchie, he just wanted to wipe the slate clean."

Allison Baden-Clay's body was found on a creek bank at Anstead in Brisbane's west on 30 April 2012.

The discovery was made 10 days after her husband reported her missing from their home in nearby Brookfield.

Baden-Clay has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Justice John Byrne began his summation of the supreme court case, before jurors retire to consider their verdict.

Byrne told jurors: "As no one claims to have seen the accused kill his wife, this is a circumstantial case."

"Circumstantial evidence is evidence of circumstances that can be relied upon not as proving a fact directly, but instead pointing to its existence," he said.

If there was any reasonable possibility that Baden-Clay was innocent then they must find the accused not guilty.

"You should dismiss all feelings of sympathy or prejudice," he said.