Tearful mum denies killing ex-husband as police tape played in murder trial
A Queensland mum accused of murdering her ex-husband tearfully denied killing him during police interviews as her murder trial continues.
A Queensland woman accused of murdering her ex-husband tearfully denied killing him during police interviews and said she would “never hurt him”.
Emily Jane Tracey and Paul Mathew Moore are accused of murdering James Switez-Glowacz at his home east of Brisbane on February 6, 2018.
Audio recordings of Ms Tracey’s interviews with detectives that month were played to Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday as the trial enters its sixth day.
Mr Switez-Glowacz, 36, died from multiple stab wounds to his head and back.
Both Ms Tracey and Mr Moore have pleaded not guilty.
The Crown alleges the pair drove to Mr Switez-Glowacz’s unit in Wynnum West that night and were present when he died.
Ms Tracey is alleged to have created a false alibi on the night, saying she was visiting her father in palliative care close to the unit.
Mr Switez-Glowacz was discovered in a “froglike” position on his knees and blood was covering the walls of his home.
Police interviews with Ms Tracey were played to the court on Wednesday.
The mother-of-six can be heard in one of the interviews tearfully telling officers she would “never hurt” Mr Switez-Glowacz and proclaiming she did not kill him as she was arrested.
“It all started when James started drinking, and hitting and choking me,” Ms Tracey told police during one of the interviews.
“I didn’t want to go to the police because I did not want him to go to jail.”
During an interview on February 22, she told police that she broke up with Mr Switez-Glowacz in January as his drinking had escalated and he was “taking more tablets”.
Ms Tracey claimed that when she confided the abuse to Mr Moore, he asked her if she “wanted him to deal with it” but she said no.
“On Sunday (February 4) James rang me being really abusive over the phone,” she said.
“I spoke to Paul and he asked if I wanted him to deal with it. I said no.
She said Mr Moore told her he would “have a few friends go around and sort him out”.
Mr Switez-Glowacz called Ms Tracey on Monday to apologise to her for his previous outburst.
During the interview, Ms Tracey claimed Mr Moore convinced her to drive to Mr Switez-Glowacz’s house on February 6, 2018 and they parked just up the road from the unit.
Mr Moore had told her he only wanted to talk with Mr Switez-Glowacz.
“I didn’t know he would hurt him,” Ms Tracey tells police.
“If I had have known if Paul was going to hurt James, I would never have taken him.
“I sat in the car and Paul got up and went down the road … I don’t know how long it was but he got back in the car and was quiet.”
Ms Tracey said Mr Moore did not speak much upon returning and asked her to drive home.
She said she was trying to contact Mr Switez-Glowacz the next day but it was not until Thursday that she found out he had died.
Detectives questioned Ms Tracey whether she had knocked on his door that night and she denied it.
“We will allege you knew full well what was going to happen … you knocked on the door because you knew James wouldn’t open it (for Paul),” police said during the interview.
She was also confronted about messages between herself and Mr Moore that were deleted from her phone and why pages were missing from the nursing home registry she signed into, which she denied.
“There are a select number of messages that are deleted,” police said during the interview.
“They should all be deleted, I delete all my messages,” Ms Tracey replied.
The court was previously told Ms Tracey had a turbulent relationship with Mr Switez-Glowacz and he was frequently violent.
The trial continues.