Prosecutors of a Queensland man who admits causing his wife's death and burying her twice but denies murdering her are set to close their case.
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Edmund Ian Riggs, 60, is on trial in Brisbane Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to the 2001 murder of his wife of 17 years, Patricia Anne.
Riggs told the jury she died after he pushed her during an argument in the bedroom of their home in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane.
He testified she hit her head on the bed, and he panicked when he realised she was dead.
Riggs buried her in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Caboolture, digging her remains up a few years later after seeing heavy machinery at the site. He reburied them at the family home.
They were found by a new owner in 2016 who was concreting behind a shed.
On September 30, 2001, Riggs said Patricia told him she'd found a list of escorts in a pocket of his shorts before revealing she'd had numerous affairs.
He said he pushed her after she spat in his face and was trying to get her away from him.
"I pushed her and she died as a result of that," Riggs told the jury.
The prosecution claims he deliberately killed her, suggesting, during cross-examination, he was motivated by complaints about his lack of financial contribution to the family and her affairs.
Closing submissions are expected to begin in the trial on Monday.
Australian Associated Press