Closing statements have begun in the Christchurch High Court with the Crown blasting Helen Milner as a pathological liar and meticulous killer.
Prosecutor Brent Stanaway told the court Milner was a "total fraud" and labelled her stories "demonstrably false".
The 50-year-old, nicknamed the 'Black Widow' by colleagues, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her husband Phillip Nisbet as well as two charges of attempted murder.
The Crown alleges she poisoned Mr Nisbet with an overdose of the antihistamine Phenergan in 2009, before setting the scene to look like a suicide.
However, Milner's lawyers deny the allegations, arguing a depressed Mr Nisbet took his own life with an intentional overdose.
Evidence 'overwhelming' - Crown
Addressing the five women and seven men on the jury, Mr Stanaway explained how the Crown case was circumstantial as no one witnessed the alleged murder.
But Mr Stanaway assured the court the surrounding evidence was "overwhelming".
"Circumstantial cases are often said to be made of a combination of strands, and here the Crown case is made up of many strands," he said. "There are two questions to be asked: are you sure she drugged him with Phenergan, and second, are you sure she intended to kill him?"
He pointed to dramatic inconsistencies in a suicide note Milner is alleged to have fabricated. There were as many as four of them, written on cards and computers to provide false reasons for the suicide.
The note provided to police was "nonsense", written by a woman who wanted the world to think of her in a positive light," Mr Stanaway said.
"This suicide note is a total fraud and patently so," he said. "It is a fanciful creation, it is not the creation a man so depressed [and] so unhappy with his life he was about to take it.
"How many suicide notes can a man leave and why? When did he get a chance to write all these suicide notes and letters?"
Other damning evidence could be found in a suicide text Milner discovered in front of police on the morning of the death – an occurrence that was far too convenient, Mr Stanaway said.
Emergency workers reported a number of strange discoveries on the morning, commenting Milner appeared to be acting and how there were no attempts at CPR.
"Extraordinarily, it appears from the St John's ambulance staff who attended that there was no bystander CPR attempt," Mr Stanaway said.
"There is no doubt there is real emotion in her voice in the 111 call, but what sort of emotion was it? Was it emotion at discovering her husband had committed suicide or, on the Crown case, was it realising the enormity of what she had done?"
Milner had clearly practiced a number of elaborate reasons to explain the suicide – after all, Mr Stanaway asked, what reason did Mr Nisbet have to take his own life?
"The defendant realised that no one, no one was going to believe that a largely healthy 47-year-old man with a good job that he enjoyed, a flourishing relationship with his son... would have to have something major going on in his life to commit suicide."
'She was out to get him'
Milner gave a number of reasons to different family members: that Mr Nisbet had recently discovered Ben Porter was not his biological son, that he was depressed as they couldn't move to Australia, that he had been diagnosed with a sleeping disorder and had lost his truck driver job.
Mr Stanaway told the court each had been proven as a lie, and proved how desperate Milner was to explain all it away.
In the end she lost track of her stories and couldn't remember what she had said to whom, vehemently denying statements made to her family and others.
She was caught crushing pills by her son Adam Kearns on another occasion – shortly before Mr Nisbet fell ill – evidence the Crown says is damning.
The motive for murder was clear Mr Stanaway said, alleging Milner wanted to cash in on her husband's life insurance and move on with her life.
"It appears she was making little secret about the fact that she was out to get him and she was seeking assistance," he told jurors. "She is intent on killing him... there is oodles of financial motivation here, in my submission."
'Phil Nisbet loved her'
The murder came at a time when the couple's relationship, which had been up and down, was on the mend - Mr Nisbet wouldn't have seen it coming, Mr Stanaway said.
"Phil Nisbet clearly loved her, he said so in cards to her that he left and he said so to her face.
"It was obvious that he was besotted with her in the early stages of her relationship, unfortunately it seems it was not reciprocated."
Instead, Milner still had feelings for Barry Hayton – and the pair reunited shortly after Mr Nisbet's death.
"Three weeks later, they were calling each other darling and honey in those texts," Mr Stanaway said.
"This is consistent with the prosecution case; she wanted rid of her husband and to move on once he was dead."
The Crown closing continues this morning, with the defence make their closing statements this afternoon.
Justice David Gendall is expected to sum up for jurors tomorrow morning.
3 News
source: newshub archive
