Peter Rex Dansie stands trial for the alleged murder of his wife, Helen, who drowned in an Adelaide pond in her wheelchair

He says he could not save his disabled wife from drowning — but prosecutors claim Peter Dansie planned to kill Helen that day because she’d become a “burden upon him”.

Alleged murderer Peter Rex Dansie outside court.

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A man drowned his wife when she became “a burden he was no longer prepared to tolerate”, then engaged in “deception and subterfuge” to escape arrest, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, Peter Rex Dansie stood trial in the Supreme Court accused of murdering Helen Dansie, who was profoundly disabled due to a stroke and the effects of e-coli.

Prosecutor Jim Pearce QC said the evidence would “clearly demonstrate” Dansie had given false accounts about Helen’s drowning to disguise its “premeditated” nature.

The murder, he said, was motivated by longstanding issues within their relationship and Dansie’s interactions with others who cared for her wellbeing.

“Peter Dansie was a man who was accustomed to being in charge … he did not like being told what to do by others,” Mr Pearce said.

“By late 2016 or early 2017, Helen Dansie had become a burden upon him that he was no longer prepared to tolerate.

“He threw her into the pond (and then) began to embark upon a course of deception and subterfuge.

“(The evidence) puts to a lie his claims that this was a spontaneous incident — this was a premeditated killing.”

Peter and Helen Dansie. Picture: Supplied.

Dansie, 70, has pleaded not guilty to having murdered Helen, 67, on South Tce in April 2017 — her body was recovered from a 1.5m deep pond in Veale Gardens.

He repeatedly and publicly denied any wrongdoing following his arrest, insisting he jumped into the water to save her after her wheelchair went into the pond.

However, over a series of subsequent court hearings, prosecutors alleged he:

TOOK a spare change of clothes to the pond.

LEFT his watch in his car, and placed his wallet and phone at the base of a tree, before getting into the water.

ARRANGED an accidental death funeral insurance policy for both her and himself in the days prior to the incident.

CONDUCTED online searches using the phrase “cheap funerals”.

CANCELLED the couple’s dental appointments, saying Helen was “not going to be around much longer”.

LEFT her ashes in the back of his car “covered in general rubbish”.

HAD greater ties to China — which he had visited 23 times in 10 years — than he did to Adelaide.

The Veale Gardens pond in which Helen Dansie drowned. Picture: Tricia Watkinson.

On Tuesday, Justice David Peek — who is hearing the trial in the absence of a jury — noted Dansie’s counsel wanted large portions of the prosecution case declared inadmissable.

He asked Mr Pearce to formally open the case before the court ruled on the admissibility issues, and asked the media to exercise caution in its reporting.

Mr Pearce said Dansie told police Helen’s wheelchair had been parked on the edge of the pond but “effectively surged” forward into the water when its brakes were disengaged.

“On our case, the brakes were virtually inoperative (and) the tyres were under-inflated,” he said.

“When police applied the brakes and attempted to push the chair forward, the brakes provided virtually no resistance whatsoever.

“If Your Honour were to accept that evidence, it completely undermines Dansie’s account of what happened.”

Mr Pearce noted Dansie’s claims he attempted to rescue his wife, despite his possessions being found “high and dry”.

He said Dansie told police he took off his watch days earlier while repairing a car — but was recorded on CCTV wearing it just hours before Helen’s death.

Though he was “wet up to the neck” when police arrived, Mr Pearce dubbed that part of “an attempt to feign an attempt to rescue her”.

The trial continues.