The daughter of a man accused of murdering his wife was scared of her father, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.
The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told defence counsel Roderick O'Hanlon SC under cross examination, that she often stayed over at a friend's house when her mother was away. "I preferred when my mum was there. I was kind of scared of my dad."
Anton Mulder (46), of Maelduin, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, but originally from Durban in South Africa, denies murdering his Irish-born wife Colleen Suzanne Mulder on the morning of December 17th, 2004. Ms Mulder was strangled in her bed.
The girl, who gave her evidence via videolink, said her parents were often arguing. "It's coz he was sort of annoying all the time. He used to try and start fights and she would tell him to leave her alone."
She told Mr O'Hanlon that on the morning of her mother's death, she had heard her mother shouting at her father. "She was telling him to leave her alone."
She said she had gone upstairs even though she had denied this in her statement to gardaí. "I was scared. I forgot to tell them."
She said she had been downstairs watching television with two of her sisters when they heard their parents arguing upstairs. Her sister went upstairs but quickly came down, crying and saying their father had killed their mother. The girl said she then went upstairs herself.
"I saw my mum lying on the bed with my dad lying on her. He was standing looking down on her, crying."
The girl said she could remember her father sleeping in the room with her and her sisters but thought it had only happened once, the night before her mother's death. She could not remember her father barricading the door.
On Tuesday the jury heard that Mr Mulder had told gardaí he had habitually barricaded the door of a room he shared with his daughters because his wife had threatened to have him shot.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told Gerry Clarke SC, prosecuting, that Ms Mulder died from manual strangulation which would have taken "moderate force".
He said he could not give a maximum time for strangulation but it would have lasted for at least "several seconds."
Andries Loubser, a colleague of Mr Mulder at Kentucky Fried Chicken, told Mr Clarke the accused man had told him his wife had left him and moved back to the family home in Northern Ireland. Mr Mulder said his wife had run away with another man and he would not let her take their six children.
Mr Loubser said that, during a conversation in Afrikaans, Mr Mulder had told him "I am going to kill her. In this country it's easy. Five or six years' jail and I'm still young when I'm out then."
Mr Loubser told Mr O'Hanlon that he was sure Mr Mulder had not actually said "I would kill for her". He denied that Mr Mulder was unhappy with his work in Kentucky Fried Chicken and was planning to fire him after Christmas 2004.
He agreed that he had not gone to the authorities when he had heard Mr Mulder threaten his wife and had not made the accusation public until he told gardaí after Colleen Mulder's death.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins and a jury of 10 men and two women.