‘Flawed but not a killer’

JOHN Chardon laughed as his own barrister gave a packed courtroom a damning assessment of his character.

“He is an arrogant individual, he is obnoxious, offensive, rude, self-centred, selfish, selfopinionated, sexist,” barrister Tony Kimmins said.

As Mr Kimmins (pictured) went through the list of flaws, Chardon sat back in the dock and laughed.

The Gold Coast businessman has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane to the murder of his wife Novy Chardon on or about February 6, 2013.

“But one thing ladies and gentlemen,” Mr Kimmins continued.

“Even with those unenviable character traits we will leave you with, he is not a murderer.

“You don’t have Mr Personality sitting in the dock, and you will hear throughout the course of this what type of person he is – but he is not a murderer.”

Chardon, 71, sat in the dock during the trial wearing a black blazer and a blue button-down shirt, open collared with no tie.

He had on blue jeans held up by a belt.

His bulky frame has not changed since Novy went missing in February 2013.

Chardon’s grey, thinning hair was neatly styled.

During proceedings, Chardon would alternate between looking down at the video monitor near his feet and up at the interpreter sitting in the dock.

At one stage, he leaned over to speak briefly to the Queensland Corrective Services officer sitting in the courtroom.

Later, he called one of his team of lawyers over to speak.

Two barristers are representing Chardon and three more lawyers were present as part of his legal team.

The court was told Chardon ran a lubricant business with a factory in Loganholme.

Chardon has two adult children and a further two children with Novy.

Novy’s mother Estralita Aler told the court via video link from Indonesia that her daughter met Chardon in 2000 when she was just 23 while working in a car rental business in Indonesia.

She said they were married after knowing each other about a month.

Ms Aler, speaking through an interpreter, said Novy moved to Australia to live with Chardon.

Novy told her in the months before she died that she was scared, especially after one of Chardon’s pistols went missing, the court was told.

“She was afraid and was scared about the pistol,” she said.

Ms Aler said Novy wanted a divorce but had put it off as a lawyer was expensive.

She said in the months before her death Novy had changed her mind because “she couldn’t stand it anymore”.

Novy’s brother Yoshy Mansur said Novy had also told him she was scared of Chardon because of a missing weapon.

The trial continues.