WEBVTT - The Inquest: Part 19 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.200 This is the case of Marion Barter, a mother, teacher, 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:21.320 friend missing for twenty six years. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:24.720 You know, no sign that she was going to vanish, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:25.480 that's for sure. 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:30.480 The bizarre circumstances surrounding her disappearance, I'm not sure if 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.120 it was intentional or there's something more foul afoot. 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.080 If you could imagine a teacher coming straight from say 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.400 little house on the prairie to the eighties, that was 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:45.000 Marian Barter. What I say, whether you find Marian Barter 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:49.000 dead or alive, I honestly believe somebody has that key 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:50.559 piece of information. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.760 And the relentless quest of a daughter to find her mum. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.440 Something had happened, Something has happened to make her leave. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.920 I am one hundred percent sure, one hundred percent sure 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:15.320 that somebody knows something. The lady vanishes, Episode forty nine. 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:17.600 I'm aliceon Sandy. 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:24.720 And I'm Brian Seymour. We're back at Lismore for day two, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.400 the afternoon session of this three day hearing, the latest 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.319 in the coronial inquest into the disappearance of Marion Barter. 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.800 The questions returned to the evidence of Gilaine du Bois 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.280 d'An lois and again mister Bloom, in a hesitant and 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:44.200 stuttering voice, rejects everything that is put to him. No, 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:46.800 he did not suggest that they should marry in Balley 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.840 in two thousand and six. No, he did not tell 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.440 her they would start a new life together in Australia. 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.600 And no, he did not persuade her to withdraw some 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:58.240 sixty thousand euros. 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:05.920 Never. No, I know she claimed that, but that never happened. 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.520 I never went to a bank with her, like she said. Never. 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.760 She says that you persuaded her to withdraw sixty thousand euros. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:14.600 You deny that. 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:21.440 Yes, she never gave me a penny. In fact, every 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:25.280 time I went to her place, oftentimes I bought. I 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:30.239 bought the food and everything. She never never, never spent 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.680 a penny on me. You got my travel records right. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.280 I was long gone before she sought her house. 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.000 Well, I was coming to that, mister Blum. Did you 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.440 persuade her to sell her house so you could start 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:42.760 a new life abroad. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.160 That's a lie. The reasons she was set in her 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.400 house was because her son's farm burnt out and she 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.880 was going to buy a farm in France. But I 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:53.880 was long back in Australia when that happened. 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.799 There are some similarities, are there not? Between what Madame 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:01.040 Danoix has to say in comparison to what genitalg, Jeanette 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.720 Geffney Bowen and Manique Cornelius have said in relation to 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:06.799 you and them starting a new life. 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:12.359 Mister Bloom's barrister Matthew White raises an objection, but Coroner Thereensa. 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:16.400 O'Sullivan dismisses it, allowing mister Caunselton to repeat his question, 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:17.400 which he does. 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.320 Will you agree with me that there are similarities between 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.160 what you said to Madame Danois about starting a new 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:27.080 life together in comparison to what Janet Oldenburg, Jeanette Gefney 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.040 Bowen and Benique Cornelius have said about you saying to 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.160 them let's start a new life together. 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:40.120 I can't remember what happened. Explain to It's like a 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:47.040 disc who slips in my head. I I have terrible headaches, 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:48.720 don't remember. 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:53.160 Do you remember accurately helping Madame Danois pack some trunks 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.240 of her belongings to ship them to Australia. 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.840 In a statement at one stage she said one trunk 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.280 and I don't know the statement and she see two trunks. 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.760 I flew back home with only the suitcases. I didn't 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:06.680 take any trunks. 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.320 When you commenced your romantic relationship with Marion Barter in 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:11.560 nineteen ninety seven, it. 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:16.679 Was an romantic She's a one who proposed itwas never romantic. 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.120 You've admitted a sexual relationship with Marion Barter in nineteen 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:21.720 ninety seven, mister Blum. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.480 Yes, but that doesn't mean it was romantic. 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:30.040 Here the coroner intervenes to settle the distinction. Mister Bloom 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:31.360 seems to be making. 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:32.960 Let's call it sexual. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.120 I'm happy to do that. When you commenced your sexual 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.400 relationship with Marion Barter in nineteen ninety seven, did you 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.560 seek to persuade her to sell her house? 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:43.800 No, no, no no. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.120 And did you seek to persuade her to sell her 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.440 house so that the two of you could start a 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.159 new life together in Europe? 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:51.840 No, no, no. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.719 And did you suggest to Marion Barter in nineteen ninety 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.200 seven that she should resign from her job as a 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.440 teacher on the Gold Coast and to open up a 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:00.560 school in Europe. 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.440 That's something she said that she will do. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:06.880 But did you undergo a ceremony of sorts with Marion 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.840 Barter in Europe, where she may believe she was married. 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:14.200 How can you organize that? In Europe? You produce alls 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:19.440 birth certificate and all your You've got published bands for 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.279 the marry. You can't just get married like that. 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.520 Did you promise Marion Barter in nineteen ninety seven that 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:27.320 the two of you should marry abroad? 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:32.760 No? No, no, I saw her as three times in my. 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:37.839 Life, perhaps four, mister Blum, correct, excluding nineteen sixty eight. 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:43.360 No. I think I saw her and stayed at the 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:48.839 house once, and I saw her on two other days. 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:51.800 And that day she drove me to the best depot 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.839 and I returned home. I didn't stay the night. 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:00.160 And of course you saw her at your place at Wollongbar. Sorry, 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:02.800 you also saw her at your place at Wollongba just 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:04.440 outside of Lismore on the road. 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:13.400 Yeah, yeah, when she when she brought when, no, she 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.839 didn't come. It was a man. It was a little 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:24.120 man who came in and delivered. And then I saw her. 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.279 I think she came when she came with another person 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:29.480 to pick up the boxes. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.520 Did you promise Marion Barter in nineteen ninety seven that 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.159 you would start a new life together? 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:38.919 In BALI No, sir, no, why why would I? 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.040 Mister counselten suggests a morning adjournment. 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.599 During the breaking proceedings. I chat to some of the 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:51.080 people who've turned up to watch. So this is She's 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.400 been following the podcast since the beginning and lives less 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:56.680 than an hour away in Mullumbimbi. 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.920 It's fascinating being here in person. It's just made it 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:05.680 all feel very real. It's interesting to see him in person, 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:13.800 and I feel very emotional and very just stressed actually 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:19.840 listening to him talk and thinking about Marian and what 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:21.480 may or may not have happened to her. 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.440 What do you think about him? Like, are you buying 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:25.640 this whole? 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:26.760 Not at all. 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.960 I think he's just a complete liar, and I don't 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.760 believe a word of what he's saying. And I think 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:39.520 that he's proven himself to be a complete opportunist and 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.880 corn artist, and so I don't know how anyone can 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:46.840 believe what he's anything that he's saying. It's all seems 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.040 like lies to me. And when he talks, it seems 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:54.160 like he's, you know, using a speech pattern to buy 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:59.240 time and to avoid and I could just see right 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.600 through all of it. The way that things have unfolded 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.720 during the course of and because of this podcast has 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:10.960 just been so incredible and gripping. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:18.880 After the break, the evidence of the woman we know 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:23.920 as Charlotte is raised. A statement she made to Belgium 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.920 police in twenty twelve has been tended to the court. 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:32.360 She won't be giving evidence in person because she wants 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:37.280 to keep her name private. We're continuing to use the pseudonym. 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:43.000 Although her true identity is revealed in court. We can 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.720 say that she is the wife of Rick Blum's deceased cousin. 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.800 Mister Cassadin puts to mister Blum that he traveled to 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:55.000 Belgium in February twenty twelve to meet with Charlotte, and 0:08:55.040 --> 0:09:01.199 that they later traveled together to Bali. Several questions and 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.439 mister Blum's responses are always rambling and full of stuttering 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:10.640 and bumbling. He mentions an inheritance from his mother and 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:16.480 how somehow his cousin, a banker, was involved. He accepts 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.080 that he did not go to his cousin's funeral in 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.040 July twenty eleven, but did travel to Belgium just seven 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.640 months later to see his cousin's grieving widow, a woman 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.080 he had only seen once in the previous twenty years, 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:31.560 at an aunt's funeral. 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.720 Is it true, mister Blum, that shortly after your cousin 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:41.040 passed that you contacted his widow by telephone? 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:47.120 It was was regarding the money of my mother that 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.160 was left with her hostpan. 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.080 Did you disclose to Charlotte and your conversations leading up 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.839 to your visit in February twenty twelve that you were 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:56.120 married to Diane? 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.800 She knew she knew that. 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.280 Charlotte most definitely, by her account, did not know that 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:08.040 he was married. Mister Blum also denies that he went 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.280 to Belgium in early twenty twelve with the intent to 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:17.040 seduce his cousin's widow, nor did he agree with suggestions 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:20.920 that he persuaded her to withdraw one hundred thousand euro 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:25.439 so they could buy a property in Bali together. Instead, 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.559 he claims that Charlotte had at least six or seven properties. 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.800 Then he thought that perhaps she could consider returning the 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:34.520 money left by his mother. 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:39.520 Now you say you had no intentions of seducing Charlotte 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.600 in February or March of twenty twelve, do you, mister Blum? 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.760 Oh? Or No. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.040 Did you say to Charlotte that you would buy a 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.520 house in Indonesia together for the two of you to 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:50.120 live together. 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:50.680 No? 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.160 Why did you go to Bali with Charlotte? 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:59.880 Because because the airline have an offer from Amsterdam and 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:06.280 she was interesting people everyone talked of Buddy and she 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.080 says you wanted to go and see the place. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.040 Had you been to Bali prior to twenty twelve? 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:15.280 Yes, I went there to Buddy before. 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:18.120 On How many occasions had you been to Bali prior 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:19.079 to twenty twelve? 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:20.840 Two or three times? 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.679 One with Janet Oldenburg? Correct? 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:24.760 Yes, correct in. 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.600 Nineteen ninety nine, once in twenty eleven for a wedding. Correct, Yes, 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.240 What other times have you been to Balley? Mister Blum? 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:37.640 I went to Bali earlier once twice I went there 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:38.320 for a holiday. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:39.920 Did you own property in Bali? 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:40.679 Never have? 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.600 In twenty twelve, did you tell Charlotte that you owned 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:44.520 property in Bali? 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.480 No? Why would I do that? 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:47.760 You say you didn't. 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:48.240 No. 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.600 Did you persuade Charlotte to withdraw one hundred thousand euros 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.400 from her accounts in Belgium? I did in order to 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:56.080 purchase a property in Bali with. 0:11:56.000 --> 0:12:00.960 You I didn't personally ask for anything. I just said 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.360 that I have that receipt from her husband and that 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:09.280 I would have liked maybe she would deposit, considering that 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:13.080 she had I don't know, at least six or seven properties. 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.880 Considering all that that she could be annoyed that she knew, 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.840 but the letter of her husband that she would probably 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.400 maybe consider give me back the money of my mother. 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.640 Did Charlotte give you any money in February or March 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:29.880 twenty twelve. 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.160 When we departed, she said she had the money for me, 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:40.200 So I took that she she they were safe in 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.640 the room of the hotel, and she put all of 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.720 her precious things and the money in the safe and 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.640 she was the only one with the access to whatever 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:51.800 number it was to get to it. 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.920 And was this a safe in the hotel room in Bali? 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:55.520 Yes? 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.120 And how much money did you understand was in this 0:12:58.240 --> 0:12:59.240 safe in the hotel? 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.040 I understood she had one hundred thousand. 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:04.960 Dollars one hundred thousand euros. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.240 One hundred thousand yeah, in Bali? Yeah? 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.640 And did she give you that one hundred thousand euros? 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.760 Because of the issue you've just given evidence about relating 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.000 to and perhaps the Sun. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.120 No, she gave me an envelope when I was leaving, 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.760 and I realized it was only half because only fifty 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.000 thousand euros, I was not so happy about it. It's 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:28.960 only after I let that I realized that it was 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.000 only half the money. The money that I declare at 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.160 perse airport when I arrived and was stolen from me 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:37.520 later on the gold course when I went to change it. 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.120 Just so I'm very clear, mister Blum, you accept that 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.440 Charlotte gave you fifty thousand euros and that you entered 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.960 Australia with fifty thousand euros exactly? Would you agree with me? 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.360 For you, at least fifty thousand euros is a substantial 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:52.080 sum of money. 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:52.680 Yes. 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.600 Do you understand why it was? She did not transfer 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:57.360 that sum of money to your bank account? 0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:58.400 Which bank? 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:00.880 The bank account you held with the Commonwealth Bank in 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:01.720 twenty twelve. 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:08.120 No, she I don't know. She went to her bank 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:13.280 withdrew the money. That's what she told me, and she 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:17.680 told me to give me, But in fact I was 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.400 only given a novelope with fifty thousand euros. 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.520 Do you know why she felt the need to travel 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.320 from Belgium to Bali with such a substantial amount of 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.520 money instead of just transferring it to you from Belgium 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:30.160 to your account in Australia. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:35.400 I know that was the way she did it. No, no, no, no, 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:36.200 you know. 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:37.640 Could it be, mister Blam. 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:41.000 Maybe it's because she already thought of giving me fifty 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:45.600 thousand euro and therefore she didn't want to declare the bank. Yeah, 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:46.640 I don't know. 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.000 Could it be, mister Blum, that you suggested to Charlotte 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:53.000 that she withdraw one hundred thousand euros from her account 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.000 in Belgium and to take it to Bali to purchase 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:56.560 a property. 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:04.240 No, no, mister Bloom appears to have very good recall 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:06.760 for what he says he did and did not do. 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:12.160 Mister Castleton questions him about the twenty five thousand euros 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.720 worth of jewelry Charlotte says he took from her, which 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.560 he denies. Despite being owed one hundred thousand euros, Mister 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.360 Bloom says he accepted fifty thousand euros in cash in 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.840 an envelope, which was then stolen from him at Pacific 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:31.120 Fair shopping center on the Gold Coast, where he planned 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:35.320 to change the euros to Australian dollars. When reporting the 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.480 alleged twenty twelve robbery to police, mister Bloom told them 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:42.240 his family in Europe gave him the money for a 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:47.400 prostrate operation. That is confusing, the same fifty thousand euros, 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:51.560 according to mister Bloom, seems to have had several different purposes. 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.960 Now you've given three versions, mister Blum, about the fifty 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.840 thousand euros you declared on a rival to Perth on 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.960 the twenty ninth of March twenty twelve. First you say 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.720 on oath it's an inheritance. Secondly you say on oath 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.880 today it was the compensation owed to you by your 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.120 cousin and perhaps his son. And you have given a 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.240 version to Queensland Police that it was for a prostate operation. 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.000 Mister Blum, which of the three is correct? 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:18.960 I object? 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:23.600 Matthew White, the barrister representing mister Bloom, raises another objection. 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:23.800 Your honor. 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.640 The evidence today, in my submission, was that it was 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:31.400 an inheritance. It wasn't compensation, and it wasn't owed by someone. 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.840 It was money that had been invested, mister Blum said, 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.720 by the mother. There was a receipt for the money 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.480 he gave. That receipt and in discussions in some form 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.200 it was suggested that she consider that he be given 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.280 some of that inheritance, and he said he eventually got 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:55.240 the fifty thousand euro In balley, mister Counslon makes the 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.560 point that he is only putting to mister Bloom what 0:16:57.640 --> 0:16:58.880 he has previously said. 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.840 When Bloom responds, he says that maybe there is a 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:07.800 misunderstanding over the meaning of the French word compensasson. Yet 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:13.080 there is a separate word in French for inheritance, les detage. 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.720 Mister Castleeden then points out that mister Bloom's wife, Diane, 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.919 gave evidence under oath that she was completely unaware of 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:25.639 any inheritance for her husband. As the afternoon wears on, 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:30.000 so does mister Casseleden, turning to mister Bloom's relationship with 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:34.800 Glaine Dubois d'An lois in two thousand and six, did 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:35.160 you have. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.679 Any discussions with Jelaine of getting engaged or getting married, 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.480 mister Blum. No, no discussions whatsoever of being engaged to marry. 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:42.920 No. 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.640 And you're quite certain of that today that you never 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.439 discussed engagement with Jelaine d'An noises. You'll need to keep 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.200 your voice up, please, mister Blum. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:52.840 I don't remember this. No. 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.399 I want to suggest to you that you would remember that, 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.280 wouldn't you, because you were married to Diane at the time. 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:00.879 I want to show you a document, please, mister Blum. 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.520 You can read French. Yes, take a moment to read 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.399 quietly to yourself the document I have opened for you. 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.280 It is the document Allison provided to police the previous 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.520 day when they took a statement from her. 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:17.080 And you see there it's a document that says, Julaane Danois. 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:18.960 You see that at the top and do you see 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.359 the next line is very happy to announce her engagement 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.560 to Frederic D'HEADEVERI do you see that? Do you see that? 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:26.199 Mister Blum? 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:28.080 Ah? 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.160 Yes, yes, rather suggests, does it not that Julaine Danois 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.280 thought she was engaged to Frederic D'HEADAVERI correct. 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.439 I can't injudice, Yes, but I never seen that. 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.119 And I want to suggest to you that Julaane Danois 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.720 provided that document recently, and then it has been provided 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.480 to those assisting her honor today. Yes, were you engaged 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.840 to be married to Julaane Danois in two thousand and six? 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:53.600 No? 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:56.280 I want to suggest to you you were, mister Blum, 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:58.200 and that your denials are alie. 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.440 No, I've never seen that notice. 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.760 Did you have any discussions in May and June of 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.600 two thousand and six with Julaine Danoix as to where 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:10.280 you may hold an engagement party? No, so you're very clear, 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.600 mister Blum. I'm suggesting that your evidence today of denying 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.480 having any discussions with Julaane Danois about engagement to marry 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:18.199 are false. 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:22.040 Yes, you agree with me. Do you never seen that? 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.840 I've never participated or anything of that. That's all. That's 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:33.000 all I know. I don't remember such a thing, never 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:33.399 seen it. 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:36.080 Never could you have been caught out in a lie, 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.080 mister Blum, about your denials of being engaged to marry 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:40.240 Julaane Danoix. 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:45.920 I was never engaged. How could I be engaged? I 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:50.280 was never never engaged. I was never never engaged. 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.680 Were you engaged to Florabella Remichel in nineteen ninety seven, 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:54.359 mister Blum? 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.719 No? No. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:00.720 Now is the time for you to be full and 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:04.720 frank about your interactions with Marion Barter in nineteen ninety seven. 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.600 Is there anything you wish to say that you have 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.560 not already said in relation to the disappearance of Marian Barter. 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:14.880 What what could I You. 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:16.920 Don't know what became of Marion Barter. 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:24.200 I myself believe that she's still alive, but I don't 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:28.320 know anything about where she is, or abouts or nothing 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:29.000 at all. 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:32.280 Your honor. That concludes my examination. 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:36.119 Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan has some of her own questions. 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.240 Thank you, mister Castle and mister Bloom. Why do you 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:41.680 believe Marian is still alive. 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:48.040 Because she I can't tell you exactly when. But in 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:53.360 a conversation before she went to England, she said that 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:57.840 she wanted to separate from her family. She didn't want 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.760 anything to do with any mum of her family. She 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:04.440 was a bit of a strange person, all right. 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.560 Can I just ask you where you were when she 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:08.400 said that to you? 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:13.440 When she said that to me, it was in her place. 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:17.520 In her house, in her house, yes, whereabouts? 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:22.560 Was that in Queensland? Our country? Remember the name of 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:26.280 the suburb. She said she had enough of her family 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:33.000 and she didn't want she she was. I explained to 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:36.960 mister White before that she was strange in a way, 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:41.040 that whatever she did, he was strange in the way 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:43.600 she dressed, She was strange. 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:46.960 Again the coroner inter. 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.360 Runs'll cut you off there, mister Bloom. It's not really 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:51.160 assisting in what I need to find out. 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:57.399 That brief interchange may prove crucial, as you will soon hear. 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:03.199 It's now the of Sally Leyden's barrister Bradley Smith, to 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:08.600 ask mister Blum a few questions. Mister Smith is not 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:11.680 in the court at Lismore. He's in his office in Sydney, 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:13.680 appearing via video link. 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:17.359 At any point in two thousand and six, did you 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:19.639 have any interest in poisons. 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:25.600 As you know, I was interested in poison. No, no, 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:30.120 not in poison. I don't know anything about poison, and 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:33.920 all I know is like everybody else has a domestic poison. 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:42.040 But my interest are always reading that history history, yes, 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:44.200 but poisoned no well. 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:47.320 Glaine Danoix gave evidence yesterday that in two thousand and 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.520 six you would often discuss with her your interest in poisons. 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:51.840 Do you say that was false? 0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:54.080