Baden-Clay had multiple affairs

A jury has heard Gerard Baden-Clay had three affairs, including two at the same time, while married to the woman he's accused of killing.

Toni_McHugh_140613_aap.jpg

Toni McHugh, the former mistress of Gerard Baden-Clay, is driven out in an unmarked police car as she leaves the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Tuesday, June 17, 2014. (AAP)

Accused wife killer Gerard Baden-Clay was having multiple affairs, even as he underwent counselling to fix his floundering marriage, a court has heard.

Baden-Clay's former mistress told his murder trial of her anger when she learned from police he'd been involved with other women.

Giving evidence for a second day, real estate agent Toni McHugh said Baden-Clay admitted to her he'd had affairs with two other women, and one occurred when he was still involved with Ms McHugh.

He told her during their final meeting how he'd had an affair with one of the women at a real estate conference in Sydney.

Ms McHugh sobbed in the witness box for the second day as she described the June 2012 meeting, days before Baden-Clay was arrested and charged with murdering his wife, saying she genuinely believed he would leave his marriage.

"One day I did expect it to happen," she said.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane also heard that by 2012 the Baden-Clays' marriage of more than a decade was in serious trouble.

The couple saw three different professionals for marriage counselling between late 2010 and early 2012, while Mrs Baden-Clay began taking the anti-depressant Zoloft.

Health professionals were adamant she wasn't suicidal although she asked for an increased dose of Zoloft in October, 2011.

The court heard the mother of three was traumatised after learning of her husband's affair but wanted to save the marriage.

Baden-Clay also expressed a desire to fix the relationship, telling counsellor Carmel Ritchie as late as April 16, 2012: "I want to build a future together ... I want to get on with life and wipe it clean".

He didn't reveal that he was still seeing Ms McHugh, having rekindled their on-again off-again affair four months earlier.

Ms Ritchie said Allison left the session in a "good mood".

Four days later, her husband dialled triple zero at 7.15am, telling the operator: "My wife isn't home and I don't know where she is."

The recorded conversation, played to the jury, was the first time the trial has heard from the father of three since he pleaded not guilty to murder on the first day of the trial.

Baden-Clay told the operator he last saw his wife the previous night when he went to bed, and she wasn't there when he woke up.

During a police interview recorded at his Brookfield house in west Brisbane that morning, Baden-Clay quietly told officers his marriage was strained but "pretty good".

Police officers who went to his house that morning told the court they noticed cuts on the right side of Baden-Clay's face which he said were shaving cuts.

"Being a police officer ... I thought it was possible perhaps domestic violence or something else had taken place," Constable Kieron Ash said.

Ten days later Allison Baden-Clay's body was found on a creek bank in nearby Anstead.

An autopsy wasn't able to determine the cause of her death.

The trial continues.


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world