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Ex-army major accused of killing wife while kayaking seeks bail

Ex-army major accused of killing wife while kayaking seeks bail

The Age3 days ago
A former Australian army major who allegedly killed his wife in a kayaking incident outside Brisbane and later sought access to nearly $1 million in life insurance has applied for bail, with his lawyer claiming his actions after her death were unremarkable.
Graeme Davidson, 55, stands accused of killing his wife Jacqueline, who reportedly fell into the water and drowned while the couple were kayaking on Lake Samsonvale, north-west of Brisbane, in November 2020.
In the first major hearing in the case since the arrest earlier this year, a court has heard Ms Davidson discovered her husband was having an affair in Papua New Guinea in the years before her death.
Mr Davidson was arrested earlier this year, after he returned from overseas to visit family in Brisbane. He is facing charges of murder, fraud, and attempted fraud offences.
Witnesses and emergency services performed CPR on Ms Davidson, but the 54-year-old was unable to be revived.
Ms Davidson's death was ruled non-suspicious, but about 18 months to two years after her death, detectives began to probe whether it was a homicide.
Before his arrest, Davidson had been in Thailand for years, but police would not confirm why extradition had not been sought.
The couple had been living together, but police earlier said they would allege the relationship had broken down.
During an application for bail on Thursday in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Davidson's barrister Craig Eberhardt KC, said Ms Davidson had no injuries or any indication that she had been violently assaulted.
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