A FORMER accountant's affair caused "friction" between him and the wife he is accused of stabbing 86 times, a court heard.
David Lilburn's wife, Ann, found out about the affair four weeks before her death last July.
Lilburn later admitted to police it had put his marriage at risk – but that he was not guilty about the affair and that he "didn't know" if he loved Ann.
Lilburn is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering his wife of 26 years at their home in Paisley in the early hours of 29 July last year. The jury yesterday heard a police interview with the 45-year-old after he was arrested in connection with the alleged attack.
Lilburn is asked by Sergeant Thomas Steel – then a detective constable – if there had been any friction between the couple prior to her death. Lilburn answered: "An affair by me."
He added his wife had found out about it four weeks earlier and that it was still going on despite her knowledge of it.
He said he had phoned his mistress the afternoon before the alleged murder. It was "possible" he had also seen her.
Sgt Steel later asked: "Was there any threat of the pair of you (he and his wife] splitting up as a result?"
Lilburn replied: "Yeah."
The court also heard that the Lilburns suffered earlier marriage troubles when the accused tried to get in contact with a woman he was at school with.
Lilburn denies murdering his wife at their home in Paisley.
The trial continues.
The full article contains 268 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
