3 months ago
23
A former Australian army major who allegedly killed his wife in a kayaking incident outside Brisbane and later sought access to nearly $1 million in life insurance has applied for bail, with his lawyer claiming his actions after her death were unremarkable.
Graeme Davidson, 55, stands accused of killing his wife Jacqueline, who reportedly fell into the water and drowned while the couple were kayaking on Lake Samsonvale, north-west of Brisbane, in November 2020.
In the first major hearing in the case since the arrest earlier this year, a court has heard Ms Davidson discovered her husband was having an affair in Papua New Guinea in the years before her death.
Graeme Davidson has been accused of murdering his wife Jacqueline.Credit: Supplie
Mr Davidson was arrested earlier this year, after he returned from overseas to visit family in Brisbane. He is facing charges of murder, fraud, and attempted fraud offences.
Witnesses and emergency services performed CPR on Ms Davidson, but the 54-year-old was unable to be revived.
Ms Davidson’s death was ruled non-suspicious, but about 18 months to two years after her death, detectives began to probe whether it was a homicide.
Before his arrest, Davidson had been in Thailand for years, but police would not confirm why extradition had not been sought.
The couple had been living together, but police earlier said they would allege the relationship had broken down.
During an application for bail on Thursday in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Davidson’s barrister Craig Eberhardt KC, said Ms Davidson had no injuries or any indication that she had been violently assaulted.
He said there was no dispute regarding the fact the coroner had determined Ms Davidson had drowned.
Eberhardt said Mr Davidson had said his wife went under the water, and he went in to find her. But because it was dark and murky, he was unable to see.
In his version of events, Mr Davidson said the pair were paddling about 10 metres apart and were 20 metres from land.
He told police he was showing off and standing up on his kayak when Ms Davidson became stressed and used their “safe word” he stopped.
He said he was not sure what happened next, but saw her leg go up in the air and initially thought she was playing around. Once he realised she was in trouble, he jumped in the water.
Mr Davidson told police he eventually managed to find her, and drag her out, Eberhardt said.
The court heard he tried to resuscitate her, and had told her: “you can get through this”. Eberhardt said his client tenderly wiped blood from his wife’s face.
Eberhardt said an ambulance officer on the scene found no visible injuries that indicated she had suffered an assault. Ms Davidson had suffered broken ribs as a result of the CPR, the court heard.
“Quite simply there is no direct evidence that [Davidson] killed Jacqueline,” he said.
In Mr Davidson’s statement, he said the pair were not wearing lifejackets as they had been destroyed by rats at their Sydney home.
After her death, Mr Davidson sought to access life insurance money, the court heard. Eberhardt submitted it was unremarkable that the married couple had life insurance, and it would have been more suspicious if he had not accessed it.
The court heard there was also CCTV showing Davidson burning documents in the backyard, but he did so while their daughter had been home.
Mr Davidson also purchased a car after his wife’s death, but Eberhardt said this had been done following discussions with Ms Davidson for some time before her death.
He said there was no domestic violence history between the pair, and Mr Davidson had remained in regular contact with police and the coroner’s office since his wife’s death while he was overseas.
The bail application is scheduled to resume on Friday.
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