Mark Caleo murder trial: Accused wife killer not cheating because friend ‘might have herpes’
A FORMER restaurateur accused of organising the murder of his wealthy wife has denied having an affair with her friend at the time because she thought she might have herpes, a court has heard.
NSW
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A FORMER high-flying restaurateur accused of organising the murder of his wealthy wife has denied having an affair with her friend at the time “because she thought she might have herpes”.
The allegations of infidelity and sexually transmitted disease were aired today at the trial of Mark Caleo, 55, who has pleaded not guilty to soliciting the murder of his wife Rita Caleo in 1990.
He has also denied soliciting the murder of Ms Caleo’s brother, Dr Michael Chye, who was shot dead as he drove into his Woollahra garage in 1989.
Caleo told a jury today that he and his wife had an “open” relationship.
The jury has heard that four months before being stabbed to death in August 1990 at her Double Bay home, mother-of-two Ms Caleo had written her husband out of her will, telling her solicitor it was due to an affair he was having with her friend, Janice Yap.
In the witness box today, Caleo said he had been unfaithful to his late wife on occasions but had not begun a sexual relationship with Ms Yap until after Ms Caleo’s death.
A photograph showing him at Sydney Airport with Ms Yap in late 1990 or early 1991 was shown to the court and Caleo said their relationship was still platonic at that time.
“There was a reason why it was not sexual,” he said.
“She told me that she thought she (might have) herpes because her ex-husband had herpes.”
They did not have sex until she was cleared by a number of blood tests, he said.
Ms Yap has not given evidence but her ex-husband, wealthy Malaysian businessman Ping Kon Yap, has told the court that he and Ms Caleo had spoken in mid-1990 “because of this affair between Janice and Mark Caleo”.
He said he believed the ongoing affair had “stretched” the Caleo’s relationship. During his evidence he was not asked whether he had herpes or had thought he had herpes.
Caleo told the jury today that he and his wife had an “open” relationship.
“Yes I was unfaithful to her,” Caleo, who could not recall whether the date of the wedding was the 26th or 27th, said. He said Ms Caleo was also unfaithful.
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He said he had come home a day early from a trip to Queensland about two or three years after their 1985 marriage to find his wife in bed with her former boyfriend, Chiang Hian Low, who was later jailed for bank fraud.
Caleo said that this was the first time he had told anyone about finding his wife having an affair.
Mr Low had previously given Ms Caleo, who had worked for him, around $175,000 in cash, the court has heard.
“When you are married to someone from Malaysia with the background that Rita had, it was not unusual for couples to engage in extra marital affairs,” Caleo said.
He denied a suggestion by Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC that he had returned home on August 9, 1990, while his late wife was out, to open the sliding doors into the bedroom to allow the killer to get in later that night.
“You were there to set up your wife’s murder,” Ms Cunneen said.
“That is a disgusting proposition ... totally untrue,” Caleo said.
Also on trial is Alani Afu who is alleged to have stabbed Ms Caleo 23 times.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The trial before Mr Justice Hulme continues.
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