A PENSIONER on trial for the murder of a Scottish woman in Australia was heard saying police were going to "get him", a court has been told.
Gordon Chong, a former lodger of accused Ronald Pennington, said the 82-year-old was crying as he made the claim.
Pennington denies killing Cariad Anderson-Slater, 41, who went missing on July 13, 1992, after being dropped off at his house in a taxi after a drink-fuelled row with her husband David.
The skeletal remains of the Scot, originally from Elgin in Moray, were found in Pennington's garden in February last year.
Mr Chong told the West Australian Supreme Court that he lived with Pennington for three days following Mrs Anderson-Slater's disappearance.
He claimed he found the pensioner crying and asked him why he was upset.
The witness said: "I walked in on him, he was in tears. He said they were going to come get him. I said, 'who is going to come and get you?'. He said the police were going to come and get him."
The court also heard from a friend of David Slater's, who claimed he and his girlfriend had offered to help him look for his wife.
Kenneth Paul Mansell said: "We called around to his house to see how he was, to see if he wanted us to help him look in pubs and clubs.
"He saw no point looking because he was convinced she was dead."
The trial continues.
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