The estranged boyfriend of Katie Foreman told police he wanted the Wollongong solicitor ‘‘scared’’ on the night she died in a deliberately lit fire at her Corrimal home, after she had repeatedly threatened him, a court has heard.
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In an interview at the time of his December 2011 arrest, Bradley Max Rawlinson told police Ms Foreman had made threats to harm him throughout the 4 years they were together.
‘‘She said ‘you know my occupation, you know I have the means and the power to get things done against you’,’’ Rawlinson told officers.
He added Ms Foreman had said she knew ‘‘enough people’’, which he understood meant police officers, that she could have him harmed before he could hurt her.
When asked to recall dates of the alleged threats, Rawlinson said he couldn’t be more specific, other than to say mid-2011.
He claimed the threats were only made when Ms Foreman had been drinking or ‘‘taking drugs’’ and she had warned him against speaking to anyone about them.
He said he had never reported the matter to police.
When asked why he had stayed in the relationship, Rawlinson replied: ‘‘Because I loved her.’’
‘‘Despite the threats?’’ officers asked him.
‘‘Yes,’’ he replied.
The court heard Rawlinson was arrested at 6.30am on December 21 – earlier than police had originally planned – after officers overheard conversations he’d had the previous day with his alleged secret lover and co-accused, Wendy Anne Evans.
Evans, and two others, Michelle Sharon Proud and Bernard Justin Spicer, were arrested the same day as Rawlinson.
During the police interview, Rawlinson confessed to telling Evans he wanted Ms Foreman ‘‘scared’’, but denied having any prior knowledge of, or planning for, a fire to be lit at her house.
When asked what he wanted to achieve by ‘‘scaring’’ Ms Foreman, Rawlinson said he’d hoped to ‘‘try to get her off the drugs and the drink’’.
Rawlinson also admitted to developing a sexual relationship with Evans while still seeing Ms Foreman and had lied about his level of contact with her during previous interviews.
He claimed when he tried to call it off, Evans threatened at first to tell Ms Foreman about the relationship, then to ‘‘end him’’ if he didn’t continue seeing her.
He said Evans told him ‘‘a week or two’’ before the fire that ‘‘something will happen to Katie’’ and ordered him to deposit $1000 into a specific TAB account, later identified as belonging to Spicer’s sister, Peggy Anne Case.
Rawlinson said when he visited Evans in the hours before the fire, she told him: ‘‘Something’s going to happen but you don’t need to know.’’
Later that night, Evans sent Rawlinson a text message asking if Ms Foreman was asleep.
Rawlinson replied she was, telling Evans to ‘‘get in, do it and get out’’.
The trial continues.
