John Bowie has been found guilty of murdering his wife Roxlyn Bowie in Walgett 40 years ago.
Bowie faced a five-week long trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney, after pleading not guilty to the murder of Roxlyn.
The jury took just four and a half hours of deliberation to return a guilty verdict in the trial.
John Bowie, 72, was accused of murdering Roxlyn on or about June 5, 1982, in Walgett in north-west New South Wales, where the couple lived with their two young children.
Roxlyn’s body has never been found. She had not contacted anyone or been seen in the 40-year period.
For a period of 40 years, John Bowie had maintained his innocence, insisting that his wife went missing on the night of June 5, 1982. He told the court he returned from the pub that night to find his wife gone and children asleep.
The Crown claimed Bowie’s motivation for the murder was because he wanted to pursue an unfettered relationship with another woman.
Crown prosecutor Alex Morris told the court Bowie had likely disposed of Roxlyn’s body by feeding her to the pigs at a piggery he was involved with.
The Crown also told the court that Bowie had likely forced his wife to write two letters stating she was leaving her husband and children.
It was also alleged that Bowie had made admissions of the murder, including saying to one person he had “killed someone before” and also separately saying pigs left no trace of a body.
The court heard that Bowie was violent, and a womaniser who drank heavily.
The daughter of John and Roxlyn, Brenda Boyd made an emotional statement outside the court, following the guilty verdict.
“I just know she didn’t leave my brother and I and this has vindicated that. My grandparents aren’t here, my brother’s not here, a lot of her family members have sadly passed away but we’ve done all this for them,” she said.
Defence barrister SC Winston Terracini was critical of the police investigation and told the court there was no forensic evidence of the murder.