A 70-year-old former ambulance officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife who vanished almost four decades ago.
John Bowie appeared via video link in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday charged with murdering Roxlyn Margaret Bowie, 31, at Walgett in northern NSW in June 1982.
Her body has never been found.
Her husband was charged with murder in October 2019 and on Friday entered a not guilty plea.
During a previous court appearance, Bowie's lawyer submitted his wife may not be dead, suggesting if someone didn't want to be found it was possible to disappear.
The crown assertions included that Bowie was a known womaniser who had the means to dispose of his wife's body at a pig farm and who was seen carrying a shovel the day after she disappeared.
After being told there were a number of pre-trial issues to be addressed, Justice Robert Allan Hulme adjourned the case to December 11 when a trial date is expected to be set.
