Former lover raises a smile at murder trial

Duncan Gillies is a good-looking man with a sense of humour, which is probably just as well. Last week he told the NSW Supreme Court he first dated the accused in 1994, the night before he had to play rugby for Manly against Drummoyne.

So, "I ended up showing some restraint that night, and went home early," he said.

In late 1995 Mr Gillies changed teams. "Did signing with Canterbury-Bankstown change your financial situation?" the Crown prosecutor, Mark Tedeschi, asked. "It did," was the reply. "[It meant] I had one."

A few months later he drew on his newfound wealth to arrange the hire purchase of a car for Ms Lane.

Mr Tedeschi asked if the relationship was going well and Mr Gillies replied, "By definition, when you buy someone a car, things are going well."

To which Justice Anthony Whealy murmured, "Depends on the car." (This one was a green Hyundai.)

In March 1998 the relationship ended and the next year Mr Gillies was surprised to receive a letter from an adoption worker telling him Ms Lane was nominating him as the father of a recently born child. He met Ms Lane who, he said, "was different to the Keli I knew".

He said it seemed she was going through a process of denial and acceptance regarding the baby.

"It might sound crazy," he said, "but at one stage the eyes rolled over in the back of her head."

Mr Gillies now lives on an island off the coast of Africa.