A man accused of murdering his wife told gardaí his wife had threatened to have him shot, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.
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.
Former Detective Garda Valentine Cross told defence counsel that Mr Mulder told gardaí he slept in fear of men bursting into his bedroom and shooting him with an AK47.
He said Mr Mulder said he and his daughters were in fear of their lives and he barricaded the bedroom door when they went to bed.
Mr Mulder told gardaí his marriage had been in difficulty for several months and he and his wife were constantly arguing about "stupid things" including their two sons' use of cannabis.
They had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for several months.
He said that Ms Mulder would often verbally abuse him "throwing out ten thousand pages of words" and he had picked up a leaflet from the men's domestic violence group Amen for advice.
Det Gda James O'Sullivan said Mr Mulder said his wife had verbally abused him for "10,15, 20 minutes" on the morning of her death.
He said she asked him how he was sleeping and told him he had never been a father to their six children.
Mr Mulder said he "just snapped".
"I grabbed her by her chin, neck, face, all over. I just wanted her to shut up."
Mr Mulder said he had wanted to "have his say" and didn't notice that she was badly injured.
He told gardaí he had phoned a solicitor friend in Dunshaughlin to ask him to phone for an ambulance and gardaí because Colleen would accuse him of assault when she came downstairs.
Johan de Waal, a South African friend of the family gave evidence that the accused man had told him and another friend that he was "sick of the children, he was sick of his wife".
Mr de Waal said Mr Mulder told him he was planning to return to South Africa after "maxing out" all his credit cards and leaving his wife and children liable for the debt.
He said Mr Mulder intended to show his wealthy father "the millions he had managed to make".
He said this had not been the first time he had spoken in this way about his family.
"On numerous occasions he was talking to me about his wife and his family and never had any nice things to say about them."
Mr de Waal said Mr Mulder had told him he already had a room organised with some work colleagues and was planning to leave.
Mr de Waal said he was aware that Mrs Mulder had suffered a miscarriage in the summer of 2004 and this had affected her relationship with her husband but he denied making a pass at her, prompting Mr Mulder to sever contact with him.
He agreed that he had been in a relationship with Ms Mulder when she had moved back to the family home in Bangor in November 2004 until the time of her death.
"We were in love," he said.
Mr de Waal insisted that this relationship only started after she had separated from her husband.
The case continues before Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins and the jury.