A WOMAN on trial for killing her husband staged a car crash near Wangaratta to make it look like he had killed himself, the Supreme Court at Wangaratta heard yesterday.

Margaret Vandergulik, 61, had been married to Glenrowan man Patrick Plumbe for two days when his charred body was found in his burnt-out utility on Adams Track, in the Warby Ranges, on April 28, 2005.

She has been charged with his murder.

The day after their wedding Mr Plumbe’s will was set up to have his entire estate go to Vandergulik.

In his opening address, prosecutor Peter Rose, SC, told the jury that Mr Plumbe, 61, had suffered a fractured skull and was breathing, but not necessarily conscious, when he was put inside his utility, taken to Adams Track and the car set alight.

He said the accident was staged to make it look like Mr Plumbe had driven into a tree.

“Patrick Plumbe did not drive into a tree,” Mr Rose said.

“The evidence points to the intervention of someone else in the death of the deceased.”

Mr Rose could not say what assistance, or to what extent, Vandergulik, of Kialla near Shepparton, was helped in carrying out the plan.

Mr Rose told the jury that witnesses would include Vandergulik’s former lover Tony Calandro.

He said Mr Calandro would tell the court Vandergulik had confessed to killing her husband.

Vandergulik told Mr Calandro that the pair had argued at their Glenrowan home, he had hit her with a chair and she had pushed him and he had fallen, hit his head and died.

Mr Rose said about a year later Mr Calandro asked Vandergulik why she had not told this to police and when he informed her he had told the police of the confession she was hysterical.

Mr Rose said Vandergulik then told Shepparton police she had received death threats from Mr Calandro and two days later she was shot in the arm at her Kialla property.

Mr Rose said forensic evidence would show that Vandergulik had shot herself in an attempt to discredit Mr Calandro in the eyes of the police.

The court would also hear from Iris Jackson-Jones, a friend of Vandergulik, about conversations the pair had about how much Mr Plumbe’s superannuation was worth.

Vandergulik’s barrister Ian Hill, QC, said much of what Ms Jackson-Jones had said was in dispute and asked the jury to consider her reliability, credibility and truthfulness.

He also urged the jury of nine women and three men to consider the accuracy and reliability of Mr Calandro’s evidence.

Mr Hill said defence witnesses would tell of a happily married couple and urged the jury to keep an open mind.

The trial continues today.