Court told of fourth note from alleged murder victim
Evidence of a fourth note said to be from Philip James Nisbet at the time of his alleged suicide has emerged at the trial of his wife who is accused of murdering him.
Noeline Miller now of Rakaia, a workmate and friend who has known Helen Elizabeth Milner for up to 14 years, told of Milner phoning her upset after her husband’s death because she had found a card in a dresser drawer.
Mrs Miller went to see her and was shown a white card with handwriting inside. It was addressed to “Dear Helen” or “My Dearest Helen”, and finished, “I will love you forever, Phil.” The card said that “he could not keep going on like this,” he said.
The three-week trial in the High Court at Christchurch has heard of Milner finding a suicide note sent to her as a text message, and one note that Milner gave to the police which was typed on a computer. Family witnesses have described a third note shown to them about the time of Mr Nisbet’s funeral which was also typed on a computer but had a handwritten signature.
Milner, 50, denies charges of attempting to murder her husband in April 2009, and then murdering him the following month by putting the anti-allergy and sedative pills Phenergan into his food and then smothering him as he lay sedated in his bed. The defence says his death was a suicide.
Today was the eighth day of the trial before Justice David Gendall and a jury.
Mrs Miller told of Milner wearing an engagement ring when she attended her husband’s 70th birthday party at the end of July 2009. Milner said it was a friendship ring, but Mrs Miller said in evidence: “I told her I knew what an engagement ring was.”
Milner told Mrs Miller that police said her husband had taken 150 Phenergan tablets before his death in May 2009. Mrs Miller said she had visited and helped to get the house ready for relatives to stay at the time of the funeral of Philip James Nisbet.
Milner told her after the funeral that she had found empty blister packs of pills “everywhere”, and she had found pharmacy receipts that showed he had bought them as he travelled around as a truck driver.
Milner did not show her the receipts. Milner told her the police said he had taken 150 pills.
In the months before Mr Nisbet’s death, she had a conversation with him and Milner about headaches and dizzy spells that Mr Nisbet was having. She urged him to see his doctor about them, because Milner said he was worried about losing his job as a truck driver.
In another conversation, months before Mr Nisbet’s death and with him present at the time, Milner said they were going to get DNA testing done to see if Mr Nisbet’s son Ben was his biological son, using hair from a hairbrush. They discussed this at that time.
After the death, Milner told her that finding out that Ben was not his son was the trigger for his suicide. Mrs Miller told the court: “I really didn’t think that was a big issue for him after we had talked.”
A forensic accountant gave evidence that Milner was living beyond her means and had increased her indebtedness – with an increase in the mortgage on her home – in the 13 months to the end of April 2009. She spent $97,530, when her income was about $49,000. The accountant, Sandra James, said she also found $28,000 of unexplained income, which proved to be money taken from her employer, Ground Services Ltd, for which she later admitted theft charges.
The accountant said Mr Nisbet was living within his means over that period including regular payments to the Inland Revenue Department.
Category: News
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Connect
Connect with us via: