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Ex-husband 'faked' alibi to cover woman's murder

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Ex-husband 'faked'  alibi to cover woman's murder This is Nottingham --

A MAN accused of murdering his ex-wife held a 'dry run' in the weeks before the killing and later visited country towns in an attempt to plant a fake alibi, a trial has heard.

The Crown alleges Robert Arthur Meade, 52, was driven by a hatred of his former wife, Sally Brooks, and bitterness over her decision to take their three children to her native England, when he killed her on July 1, 2011, in the laundry of her home in Donvale, Melbourne.

Ms Brooks, 48, originally from Stapleford, suffered massive head injuries when hit numerous times with a blunt instrument. She never regained consciousness and died ten days later in hospital.

Mr Meade has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

Prosecutor Ray Elston, SC, told the Supreme Court Meade had broken into the house and waited for his ex-wife in the knowledge that July 1 was the last day he could kill her, as their children were at school for the last time before holidays and they would fly out a week later.

"It was the last chance. [That] Friday or nothing," Mr Elston told the jury.

The court heard Meade had settled in Adelaide with a new wife after his acrimonious divorce with Ms Brooks, and he had driven across Victoria about three weeks before she was killed to rehearse the route he would take before and after attacking her.

Mr Elston said telephone records showed that Meade spoke to Ms Brooks at this time claiming he was in Jamieson when he was close to her home.

He said: "This trip from Adelaide to the Donvale area was in fact, what we would suggest to you, a dry run, one carried out with the murder of the deceased in mind. A rehearsal."

Mr Elston said that about two months after Ms Brooks died, Meade visited the towns of Yea and Mansfield and spoke to locals about gold prospecting to create subterfuge that he was in the area at the time his ex-wife was attacked.

"We say at this time he was endeavouring to make sure his face was in front of significant locations so people would remember him," he said.

Mr Elston said there were no witnesses to the attack on Ms Brooks. He said the prosecution case would rely on circumstantial evidence, including recorded conversations between Meade and his wife about the specific time of the attack and the items he had taken on trips to Victoria, and an admission to a colleague of his hatred towards his ex-wife.

Defence counsel Peter Morrissey, SC, urged the jury to wait for all the evidence to be presented, and raised the prospect Ms Brooks could have been attacked by a burglar.

"Whoever did this didn't finish her off, didn't stab her or strangle her," Mr Morrissey said.

The trial is expected to include evidence from Ms Brooks' twin sister Alison, a lawyer who still lives in Notts, and the custodian of her sister's children, aged 13, 11 and nine.

The trial, before Justice Mark Weinberg and reported by Australian newspaper The Age, continues. Reported by This is 22 hours ago.

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