Secret tape exposes wife Emma Walters alleged plan to lure, kill Union boss John Setka

The estranged wife of John Setka asked a private investigator for help to get a gun so she could “kill my children’s father to survive”, a court has heard.

Emma Walters, the estranged wife of union boss John Setka, said she needed to “kill my children’s father to survive” in a secret recording played to court.

Ms Walters, 47, was charged with making a threat to kill and attempting to possess a firearm without a permit relating to allegations she asked private investigator Adrian Peeters to get her a “piece” so she could kill Mr Setka, the Victorian secretary of the CFMEU.

The conversation was secretly recorded by Mr Peeters and played to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, with Ms Walters heard discussing how she wanted to “lure” Mr Setka to her home.

“I’m going to have to lure him in here, and I’m going to have to use it,” she says in the video, at times slurring her words.

Victorian secretary of the CFMEU John Setka, appears at Melbourne Magistrates Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“I know how to use a gun alright, I just need a gun and I’m willing to deal with the consequences of having to going through the court process of self-defence, I have that capacity.

“I have to kill my children’s father to survive and that is not a very good position to be in.”

In the recording, she also told Mr Peeters their conversation “never” happened and Mr Setka’s death could not look premeditated.

The security expert told the court he attended Ms Walters’ West Footscray home on March 21, believing he had been hired to debug it.

But he said the conversation quickly “shifted” to her asking him to help her obtain a gun, prompting him to secretly record.

“I was taken aback, I was a bit shocked,” he said.

“They’re talking to me about a possible murder … I was a bit uneasy and felt for my own safety I needed to record it.”

Mr Peeters said he alerted Mr Setka’s lawyers and provided the recording to police because was concerned for the union heavyweight’s safety and believed it was his duty to tell him.

Emma Walters, the estranged wife of John Setka, is accused of threatening to kill the union boss. Picture: NCA NewsWire

After her arrest, Ms Walters denied she wanted to kill her husband, telling investigators the allegations were “lies”.

“Have I got any intent to kill John Setka? No,” she said in her police interview.

“But do I have responsibility to protect myself and the children? Yes.”

She added police failed to protect her and she wanted Mr Setka to be held to account so she could sleep at night.

Wearing a floral patterned suit, Ms Walters sat quietly behind her lawyer during Tuesday’s hearing.

Mr Setka did not attend court.

She was initially charged with incitement to commit conspiracy to murder but that charge was dropped in August.

On Tuesday afternoon, magistrate Leon Fluxman dismissed the attempted firearm possession charge, finding prosecutors had failed to provide detail on the type of firearm she was trying to obtain.

He will hand down his decision on the remaining charge on December 8.