Wife worth a million 'was dumped in the lake' court hears
On trial: Robert Lund and Evelyn, who he is accused of killing in France in 1999
A husband killed his wealthy wife and dumped her body in a lake after they moved to France to start an "idyllic new life", a court has heard.
Robert Lund, 59, is said to have placed his wife Evelyn, 52, at the wheel of her car before rolling it into the water.
He then reported her missing, saying she had stormed out of their home in a drunken rage.
But two years later, a freak drought saw waters in the lake drop by 30ft and a passer-by spotted the roof of her red Toyota.
The court in Albi, south-west France, heard the Lunds moved from Britain to France in 1997, settling in a £400,000 converted barn in the hamlet of Rayssac, near Toulouse.
Christophe Barthe, prosecuting, told the court Mrs Lund had fled the house after an argument on December 29, 1999.
When she returned later that day, Lund killed her then drove her body to the Lac de Balcanie, 15 miles away.
He pushed the car into the lake and returned home on foot.
Mr Barthe said Mrs Lund's glasses provided a vital clue.
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Lake Bancalie where Evelyn Lund's remains were found in a car six years after her death
"Mrs Lund fled to the house of a friend - wearing her glasses. Mr Lund claims his wife never came home again after this argument but those same glasses were later found in her handbag at the Lunds' farmhouse.
"She needed her glasses to drive. Because they were found at home it suggests that when she left home a second time it was not alone.
"He (Lund) killed his wife so he could continue to live in the farmhouse and benefit from her life insurance."
The value of the policy was not disclosed in court.
Evelyn Lund: She was killed eight years ago and her body dumped in a lake
Lund, who was not arrested until 2004 - three years after his wife's body was found - denies murder.
He met the mother-of-three in Darwen, Lancashire, in 1991, soon after her husband died, leaving her a farmhouse and more than £1million.
Lund, a former Forestry Commission worker who had been living in a caravan, moved into the house and they married in 1994.
In 1997, Lund persuaded his wife to move abroad and they bought the 400-year-old farmhouse they called Fin de Voyage - Journey's End - set in 75 acres of woodland in Rayssac.
He was arrested within days of reporting her missing on January 1, 2000, but quickly released due to lack of evidence, the court heard.
Lund claims his wife had turned to drink because she felt "lonely, isolated and homesick" and was in a state of deep depression on the night she vanished.
He did not report her missing for two days because he was used to her driving off in a drunken rage to stay with friends, he told police.
The trial continues.
