Accused killer of ex-partner says victim was ambushed by another

A man accused of murdering his estranged wife was recorded in the minutes after her death claiming the pair had been ambushed by a stranger in the dark and that he “panicked” and ran away.

A man accused of murdering his estranged wife was recorded in the minutes after her death claiming the pair had been ambushed by a stranger in the dark and that he “panicked” and ran away and that he should have stayed to protect her.

Audio recordings of a phone call of murder-accused Andrew Cobby sobbing over the phone to his adult son in the moments after Kym Cobby’s lifeless body was discovered in her driveway were played to a court on Thursday.

Sobbing and breathing heavily, Cobby, now 59, is heard telling their son that he is lost in the bushes near his ex-wife’s Gold Coast Hinterland home after running from a male attacker who had ambushed them in the dark.

“I’m sorry I should have stayed but I panicked and I ran but I tried to protect your mum,” Cobby is heard saying.

Victim Kym Cobby.

Throughout the call, he continues to tell his son, “I should have stayed to protect mum” and “I’m sorry that I didn’t stay”.

Cobby is heard claiming that his estranged wife had been concerned for her safety so he had gone to her Worongary home in the Gold Coast Hinterland on the night of November 12, 2017.

Ms Cobby’s bloodied and battered body was discovered by her brother-in-law in her driveway that evening and the crown alleges that his arrival interrupted an attack upon her from her ex.

“Mum was scared so she called me to come up, she saw someone,” Cobby is heard telling his son during a phone call in the minutes after her body is found.

In the recording captured by a police officer at the crime scene, Cobby is asked if he and Ms Cobby had arranged to meet someone.

“No we didn’t organise anything, but mum was scared and she asked me to come up,” he says.

Andrew Cobby is taken into Southport Watch house and charged with the Worongary murder of his wife. Photo: 9 Gold Coast News

The recording was played to the jury in Cobby’s Brisbane Supreme Court murder trial.

He has pleaded not guilty to killing his estranged wife on November 12, 2017.

At the start of the trial on Wednesday, defence barrister Tony Kimmins said the jury would hear evidence of claims the Cobby family had been threatened in the lead up to Kym’s death due to investment deals made by her estranged husband.

The trial continues before Justice Peter Callaghan.