A Gold Coast businessman accused of murdering his wife allegedly told her friend that she had "packed her luggage and left," before propositioning her about an affair with him, a trial has heard.
When his Supreme Court trial began this morning, John William Chardon has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Novy at Upper Coomera in February 2013. Her body has never been found.
In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Mark Green told the court the couple had marital issues and had separated in 2012, but continued to live under the same roof.
He said a friend of Novy's — Frederika Wong — would give evidence that Novy spoke about visiting her lawyer to finalise divorce proceedings when she met up with her on February 5.
The court heard Novy's lawyer sent her husband divorce paperwork the next day — the last day she was seen alive.
Mr Green said when Ms Wong was unable to reach her friend on February 7, she visited the Chardon house, where John allegedly told her that his wife had previously "come home angry," before she packed up her luggage and left.
"He complained to Frederika about the house being messy, then showed her Novy's bedroom [where he had] cleaned the carpet that morning," Mr Green said.
"Frederika noticed the carpet was still a bit wet and the carpet runner usually in the room was missing.
"John propositioned her at this point about whether she would want to have an affair with him."
Mr Green said both Novy and Mr Chardon had embarked on affairs before.
The court heard Mr Chardon told police in an interview later that month that his wife had said to him she was "going away".
He told them he then took a sleeping tablet and woke up the next morning to find her gone, Mr Green said.
The court heard that prior to Novy's disappearance, an employee at Mr Chardon's Loganholme factory found a box with a gun and ammunition in it.
The jury was told CCTV captured Mr Chardon visiting the factory for 80 seconds the night his wife disappeared, before he drove home again.
Mr Green said Mr Chardon was unable to offer any explanation to police.
The trial also heard Novy's car was found in a nearby suburb.
Mr Chardon's barrister Tony Kimmins told jurors his client might be a "philanderer, arrogant, obnoxious, sexist and uncouth," but he was "not a murderer".
More than 70 witnesses are expected to be called to give evidence during the trial, which has been set down for four weeks.
