Novy ‘was in fear for life’
NOVY Chardon told a neighbour before she went missing that she was scared her husband might kill her, a court has heard.
The explosive evidence was yesterday given in accused wife killer John Chardon’s murder trial by Glenn Liscombe, who lived across the road from the man at the Gold Coast in 2013.
Chardon is accused of killing his wife Novy on or about February 6, 2013.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murder in the Supreme Court in Brisbane.
Novy was last February 6, 2013.
She has not used her bank accounts, left the country or seen a doctor since that date, but her body has never been found, the court has heard. Her car was found near Nerang train station about five days after Novy went missing.
Mr Liscombe, who lived in Upper Coomera when the 34year-old seen on disappeared, yesterday told the jury that the woman had explained “she was having problems with the relationship”. “Well, she feared for her life, she told me that,” he told the court.
Mr Liscombe later said: “She said that if she didn’t come back from an overseas trip that John had probably killed her, or organised for her to be killed, and for me to go to the police if I didn’t see her.”
The Upper Coomera resident said the day after Novy went missing he saw a lot of “erratic” activity at the home with cars coming and going.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister Tony Kimmins, Mr Liscombe agreed that Chardon had invited him to the home to “show off” his expensive pool and Novy’s designer handbags, worth about $40,000.
Mr Liscombe told the court that the day after Novy went missing, he also saw a stainless steel box being taken out to Chardon’s car, which contained a carpet cleaner vacuum. Novy was reported as a missing person on February 9, 2013.
The court yesterday heard evidence from a man named Mark Clayton, who said in the days after Novy’s disappearance he saw a woman at Greenmount Beach with another man, who asked his friend to take a photo of the pair. Mr Clayton told the court he later saw a news report about Novy’s disappearance and recognised the 34year-old in the report as “absolutely identical” to the woman he saw at the beach.
Another neighbour, Rachael Weiley, yesterday gave evidence that she had tried to keep Chardon and Novy at arm’s length because their relationship problems were “one of those things” she didn’t want to be involved in.
“It was very clear how strange the situation was and it was one of those situations where you know it was a not good situation, so it was a need-to-know basis.’’
The trial continues.