Murder accused spoke of killing: witness

Accused murderer Walter Ciaran Marsh was angered by his "stupid" colleagues at a
Sydney hospital, often spoke of killing the people he hated and practised cutting a
person's throat, a court has been told.
Marsh, 49, is charged with murdering nurse Michelle Beets, who was found dead with
stab wounds on the doorstep of her Chatswood home on Sydney's north shore on April
27 this year.
Ms Beets, 57, was a nurse manager at Royal North Shore Hospital where Marsh, a
former US marine, worked as a nurse for 12 months on a 457 work visa.
His brother-in-law, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is one of two key
prosecution witnesses giving evidence during a committal hearing at Sydney's Downing
Centre Local Court.
On Tuesday, he said that Marsh had simulated a throat-cutting a week before Ms
Beets' death.
"He took out a very long spoon used for cooking and he said that using that kind of
spoon is less dangerous than using a knife," the brother-in-law said through a
Vietnamese interpreter.
He went on to say that Marsh stood behind him using his left hand to hold up his
chin while making a movement with the spoon, described by Magistrate Julie Huber as
"a slicing motion across the neck".
The witness said Marsh then "tried to stab a few times in my tummy".
On another occasion, Marsh threaded a cucumber onto a chopstick, asked his
brother-in-law to hold it and then chopped it with a knife.
In August 2009, when the witness started living with his sister and Marsh, he
remembered the accused coming home from work "very angry" and upset.
"He said that some of the staff in the hospital are very stupid and doctors as
well," the witness said.
Efforts to calm Marsh were futile, he said, adding: "He said that if he wants he
could kill or ask somebody to put a bomb to the people he hate."
Marsh's wife has also given detailed evidence of her husband's alleged involvement
in Ms Beet's death, including his "confession" to her on the night of the murder
that he had cut the nurse's throat, saying "the bitch is dead".
The wife said she first lied to police about her husband's role in Ms Beets' death
but denied financial incentives, including rent assistance and help obtaining a visa
for her to remain in Australia independent from her husband, persuaded her to give
evidence.
On Tuesday she admitted that police were paying $360 a week towards the cost of
renting an apartment in Sydney, where she and her brother have lived since a short
time after Ms Beets' death.
"It was a surprise but they (police) said it is to make sure that we are all right
and we do not have to struggle," the woman said.
She denied she had asked for the financial assistance.
Marsh's barrister, James Trevallion, suggested the woman made her story "bigger and
bigger" and "better and better".
"It is the case isn't it ... that each time you have gone back to the police you
have given extra little bits of information to sweeten up the police, isn't that
right?" he asked.
She denied the allegation.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.