Former real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay has denied killing his wife or fighting with her the night before she disappeared.
The 43-year-old has entered the witness box in the Brisbane Supreme Court where he is on trial charged with killing Allison Baden-Clay.
He told the court he had planned on spending the rest of his life with his wife.
Clean shaven and wearing a dark suit and glasses, the father of three took an oath on the bible before answering questions from his barrister.
"Did you kill Allison?" defence barrister Michael Byrne QC asked.
"No I did not," Baden-Clay replied.
"Did you fight with her on the evening of the 19th (of April 2012)?"
"No I did not," Baden-Clay said, also denying disposing of her body and cleaning up afterwards.
"We were planning to spend the rest of our lives together and we were working together to make that a reality."
Under questioning from Mr Byrne, Baden-Clay explained how he began going out with his wife after meeting her at Flight Centre, where they both worked.
He remained composed until his lawyer asked what happened after he met Allison's parents.
"I fell in love with her," he said with a breaking voice before pausing to remove his glasses, and wipe his eyes with a handkerchief.
"I fell in love with her pretty well straight away," he said through tears.
"I had had a couple of girlfriends previously but I felt a level of emotional attachment to Allison that was far deeper than I'd ever experienced before.
"I knew that she was the one."
Baden-Clay said he proposed in 1996 and they were married in 1997.
They travelled to Europe and the Middle East after their honeymoon and in 1998 travelled to South America.
They both began taking the anti-malarial medication Lariam after telling their doctor they had no history of mental illness.
"It had no effect me. It obviously had a dramatic effect on Allison," he said.
Overseas his wife suffered mood swings, anxiety and depression, according to Baden-Clay, recalling times when she wouldn't get out of bed.
"Her mood fluctuated from what I would call normal Al who is just a lovely, kind gentle person but with a great sense of humour and a love of life through to some really deep depression," he said.
Back in Brisbane in 2000, the couple decided to start a family but Baden-Clay said his wife's mental health continued downhill.
She would have panic attacks and sometimes pass out, including when driving.
Baden-Clay described how at one stage Allison couldn't bear it when he left the house, even if it was just to go to to his office in a detached garage.
"She would lie on the couch and basically just tend to (our child) Hannah's very basic needs," he said.
He said he was doing almost all the parenting because his wife was too depressed.
"She didn't want to tell anybody because she didn't want to seem to be incapable," he said. "She felt a tremendous pressure."
Allison's body was found on a creek bank in Anstead in Brisbane's west on April 30, 2012.
The discovery was made 10 days after her husband reported her missing from their home in nearby Brookfield.
The trial continues.
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