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    Former Filipino bar girl who was set to inherit lover's house denies murdering him

    Australian Associated Press
    Yahoo News Australia11 June 2019
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    A former Filipino bar girl who thought she stood to inherit her wealthy Australian lover's Brisbane house has denied murdering him after he asked her to move out.

    Menchie Klune isn't on trial for killing Gerhard Wagner, 61.

    The accused is the dead man's nephew, Robert James Wagner, 57, who a witness says boasted of using an axe, a hammer and a knife to murder and cut up Gerhard's body.

    But in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday, Wagner's barrister, David Funch, put it to Ms Klune that she was the former merchant seaman's killer.

    "Oh Jesus Christ," Ms Klune replied.

    "How do you kill the love of your life? No way."

    A police handout of Gerhard Wagner, 61, who disappeared in January, 1999. His nephew Robert Wagner is accused of his murder and faced the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday.
    View photos
    Gerhard Wagner, 61, who disappeared in January, 1999. His nephew Robert is facing court accused of his murder. Source: Queensland Police

    The court heard that Ms Klune, now a Brisbane biscuit factory worker, was told by Gerhard that she would inherit his home.

    But they had problems and he asked her to move out.

    Mr Funch suggested to Ms Klune she had returned and used a key hidden under a washing machine in the outside laundry to get back in.

    She denied it.

    A kiss on the cheek as he dropped her off at work a few days before he disappeared on January 7, 1999, was the last she saw of him, Ms Klune said.

    Gerhard was last seen that day riding a motorcycle after working on his prized yacht.

    Neither his body nor the motorcycle have been found.

    Wagner owed Gerhard about $84,000 and was in a difficult financial position, crown prosecutor Philip McCarthy said.

    Ms Klune says Wagner's uncle regularly nagged him about his wasteful ways and they were always arguing.

    Wagner has pleaded not guilty to killing Gerhard.

    But a witness, who can't be identified for legal reasons, said Wagner confessed to him and appeared to enjoy recounting the horrible details.

    A Google street view of Brisbane Supreme Court.
    View photos
    Brisbane Supreme Court. Source: Google Maps (file pic)

    The witness also said Wagner told him it was premeditated and about money.

    "He went quiet for 30 seconds, then he looked at me and said 'I killed my uncle'," the witness told the court on Tuesday.

    "He owed his uncle quite a bit of money and he was asking him about it, and his uncle was changing his will and cutting Robert out."

    The witness said Wagner had invited his uncle to a prepared murder site in his garage.

    "He put a plastic sheet down (and) he hit him over the head with a hammer," he said.

    The witness said Wagner told him that he then "chopped up" Gerhard's body.

    "He was enjoying telling me what he'd done," the witness said.

    "It was quite horrible."

    Wagner then took "skin and the guts" to a Brisbane river, he said.

    The rest of the body was allegedly buried at Mount Tibrogargan in the Glass House Mountains National Park, north of Brisbane.

    The trial continues.

    Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

    You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.

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