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Lake death victim 'was violent' Lake death man questions evidence
(1 day later)
A British man accused of killing his wife told a French court she was a violent alcoholic who once attacked him with a kitchen knife. A man accused of killing his wife told a court he found it suspicious that his wife's daughters and friends all gave similarly worded evidence to police.
Evelyn Lund, 52, originally from Lancashire, went missing from their farmhouse in Rayssac, France in 1999. Robert Lund said at the Cour d'Assises de Tarn in Albi, south west France: "Is it coincidence? Is it a conspiracy? Or were these the words of the police?"
Her body was found in her car in Lake Bancalie, 15 miles (24km) away in 2001. Mr Lund is alleged to have murdered his 52-year-old wife Evelyn and pushed her car into Lake Bancalie with her inside.
Robert Lund said Mrs Lund regularly attacked him when she had been drinking. He denies killing her and trying to disguise it as an accident. The couple moved from Lancashire to France in 1997. Mr Lund denies murder.
The prosecution claim Mr Lund killed his wife for her life insurance and pushed her car into a lake with her body inside. Violent alcoholic
Earlier he told the court that his wife was a violent alcoholic who once attacked him with a kitchen knife.
Evelyn Lund's body was discovered when lake water levels droppedEvelyn Lund's body was discovered when lake water levels dropped
Her body was found when water levels fell at the lake during a drought. "When my wife drank, she became very angry, and she hit me all the time - she hit me very, very hard, and she would throw objects at me," said the 55-year-old.
Mr Lund, 55, told the Cour d'Assises de Tarn in Albi, south west France, that his wife regularly attacked him. Mr Lund maintains he played no part in his wife's death, claiming she died after driving into the lake by accident after going missing from their farmhouse in Rayssac in 1999.
"When my wife drank, she became very angry, and she hit me all the time - she hit me very, very hard, and she would throw objects at me," he said. Life insurance
"The worst was when she threw a 25cm (10in) knife at me. I put my hands up to protect myself and it cut my finger." However, the prosecution claims he killed his wife for her life insurance.
The former tree surgeon said he once hit her back, but not hard, and under provocation. An important part of the case against Mr Lund relates to his wife's spectacles - which were found at their farmhouse after her disappearance.
Mr Lund maintains he played no part in his wife's death, and claims that she died after driving into the lake by accident.
The couple moved to France in 1997The couple moved to France in 1997
He said Mrs Lund drank heavily because she was depressed about the death of her first husband, Arthur, from lung cancer in 1991. A friend, Marianne Ramsey, told police Mrs Lund had been wearing them when she visited her house.
The drinking and violence became worse after the Lunds moved to France from Darwen in 1997, he said. Mr Lund has always maintained that he never saw his wife after she left the house to visit the Ramseys.
Mr Lund said: "She fell further and further into depression, and she had no confidence in doctors, because it was doctors who gave her first husband 12 months to live, and six weeks later he died." Mrs Ramsey told the court that Mr Lund used to belittle his wife in public and she said: "I think she definitely went home that night, changed, and there was another row, and somewhere along the line she was killed and chucked in the lake."
Mr Lund said his wife blamed him for her problems, and in particular for what she felt was their miserable, isolated life in the French countryside, he said. According to the defendant, Mrs Lund drank heavily because she was depressed about the death of her first husband.
The case continues. The trial continues.