Man accused of killing his wife was allegedly violent during marriage
AShe was visiting me – you would only get snippets – but I think he was violent
MAN accused of murdering his wife was allegedly violent to her during their marriage. Peter Maher has gone on trial charged with killing Jeanna Maher, 51, at their family home in Drumchapel, Glasgow on September 26 2018.
The 60 year-old denies the accusation.
Jeanna’s sister Fiona Moir was the first witness at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.
Fiona said she believed Asda supermarket worker Jeanna and Maher had been wed for around 30 years having three sons together.
The 61 year-old stated, from she was told, that the marriage had been “okay” for the first 15 years.
Prosecutor Steven Borthwick asked the witness: “Did there come a point when Jeanna specifically said things to you that gave you the impression the relationship had changed?”
Fiona: “She was visiting me – you would only get snippets – but I think he was violent.”
Maher was said to have come into the kitchen, the couple argued “over nothing” and there was allegedly “fisticuffs” between them.
Fiona believed she had this conversation with her sister around 2016.
Fiona also recalled going to see Jeanna at her work and she had a black eye.
Mr Borthwick: “Did you ask her about the injury?”
The witness: “Yes, she said she had banged herself against one of the cupboards.”
Fiona said Jeanna told her in the years before her death that the marriage had deteriorated.
This was said to have included the couple not sharing a bed together.
Fiona told the court: “Jeanna would go out working three jobs to pay bills and Peter would stay in doing nothing.”
Fiona recalled how she had questioned why her sister stayed with Maher.
She went on: “I said...there was no reason for them to stay in a loveless marriage.
“I said if she ever needed a room, I had a spare one. My older sister said the same.”
Mr Borthwick: “Did you say to Jeanna that she should leave Peter?”
Fiona replied: “I did, but she did not want to leave her children’s father.”
The murder allegation includes claims Maher repeatedly struck Jeanna with a mallet or similar item.
The trial, before judge Lord Arthurson, continues on Tuesday.