18 Dec 2013

Jury retires in Milner trial

8:29 pm on 18 December 2013

The jury in the trial of a woman accused of killing her husband has retired for the day and will continue deliberations on Thursday morning.

Helen Milner, 50, is accused of killing her 47-year-old husband Philip Nisbet in May 2009 and two charges of attempted murder by poisoning him with a drug he was allergic to the previous month. It is alleged she then tried to make it look like a suicide.

The 50-year-old has denied the charges.

In his summing up on Wednesday morning, Justice Gendall told jurors much of the evidence in the case is circumstantial. He said they must put emotion aside and should come to their decision based solely on the evidence put before them.

"Taken individually, each fact may not prove very much at all. But if when you put them all together you find that as a matter of commonsense and logic, the only conclusion you can come to is that the defendant is guilty, then that is enough."

Judge Gendall said jurors should not let any feelings of sympathy or prejudice towards Helen Milner, Philip Nisbet or any one else involved in the case sway their decision.

The defence summed up its case on Tuesday. Mrs Milner's lawyer pointed to a 111 call she made to emergency services and played in court as proof her grief at losing her husband was genuine and that he had taken his own life.

Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway said Mrs Milner's motivation for wanting to kill Philip Nisbet was financial and she stood to benefit from his $250,000 life insurance policy.

The jury began deliberating at 11am on Wednesday.