Murder-accused's wife said 'I'm not right' day before she died

Malcolm Webster: Murder accused at the High Court in Glasgow© STV

An alleged murder victim told a friend: "I'm not right, there's definitely something wrong with me" the day before she died, a court heard.

Lesley Roberts, 46, was giving evidence at the trial of Malcolm Webster, 51, who denies murdering his first wife Claire by drugging her with Temazepam, crashing his car on the Auchenhuive to Tarves Road, Kingoodie, Aberdeenshire in May 1994, and setting it on fire.

Miss Roberts, who lived near the Websters in Tarves, told advocate depute Derek Ogg QC that she became good friends with Claire in the six months before she died.

On May 26, 1994 the two women went to a keep fit class in Tarves and afterwards spoke for about 20 minutes before parting company.

Miss Roberts told the court: "She said she was tired and her hair was dry. She said: "'m tired and I can't concentrate, I'm not right. There definitely something wrong with me."

Miss Roberts told the court that as they parted Claire said that she was doing to make another appointment with her doctor. The court has already heard that she had gone to her GP complaining of fatigue, but blood tests failed to show any cause for this.

Miss Roberts, a nurse, said that she was phoned on Saturday, May 28, 1994 by Joanna  Reid, a former vet who became a NHS manager working at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who told her that Claire had died.

She told the court that she arranged with Miss Reid to go to the Websters' cottage to collect clothes for Webster. Mr Ogg asked if she had noticed anything and she replied that she had seen three bottles of hospital medication on the coffee table.

Miss Roberts added: "I saw a box of Epilim I knew it was an epilepsy drug."

She said she also saw a bottle of Carbamezipine another epilepsy  drug, and another bottle which she could not identify. All of the bottles were, she claimed, issued by an Aberdeen hospital.

Miss Roberts said she asked Miss Reid if Claire or Webster suffered from epilepsy and claimed she told her:  "I don't know whose got epilepsy."

The jury was told that Miss Reid then said to Miss Roberts that Webster had asked her to take the drugs to him in the hospital.

Miss Roberts said: "I am certain of that. That definitely happened. She put them into a Tesco's bag" She was then asked if Webster who she had worked alongside at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary had as far as she knew epilepsy and replied: "No."

Good friends

The court was told by Miss Roberts  that Webster and Miss Reid were very friendly and would meet for coffee two or three times almost every day.

Under cross-examination by defence QC Edgar Prais asked Miss Roberts: "Is it not true you have simply got it in for Malcolm Webster?" and she denied this.

She was then asked if she thought he was over promoted and said that she thought it was odd for an enrolled nurse to have been promoted because of his computer skills to a grade equivalent to that of matron.

Mr Prais then asked Miss Roberts: "In a statement given on March 28, 2008 the police asked you to describe what you saw in the cottage and you didn't mention the drugs?  And she replied: "I was trying to filter out what was important. I was asked to described the room."

Mr Prais then said: "All of this was a long time ago you might have got a lot of it wrong,ö and she replied: ôThere's some bits I remember and others I don't."

Webster also denies trying to kill his second Felicity Drumm  in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1999 to cash in on their life insurance

He is also alleged to have formed a fraudulent scheme between 2004 and 2008  to enter into a bigamous marriage with lover  Simone Banerjee to get access to her estate. Webster denies all the charges.

The trial before judge Lord Bannatyne continues.

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