Murder accused told police he was a ‘coward’ to flee scene of killing
Andrew Cobby’s primal, haunting screams echoed through the hospital when police told him his wife was dead.
Police at the scene of the discovery of Kym Cobby's body outside her home in Worongary on the Gold Coast in 2017. (AAP Image/Murray Wenzel)
“Nooooooo, no, no. Tell me it isn’t true. No. Not Kym,” he wailed. “I am sorry, Kym. I’m sorry.
“I was supposed to protect her. No, no, no.
“No. You are wrong. No, no please tell me it’s not true. It can’t be true. No. No Kym No.”
But Andrew John Cobby stands accused of murdering his wife Gaylene – known as Kym – who was beaten and choked while taking out rubbish at her Gold Coast hinterland home on November 12, 2017.
The 59-year-old denied the charge and pleaded not guilty to killing the woman he called the “love of his life”.
Married for more than three decades, Cobby and his wife, 51, had been separated at the time of her death, but he insisted they planned to reunite.
His rambling three-hour police interview conducted at his hospital bed was played for the jury at the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Cobby was covered in blood and treated by medical staff at a Gold Coast hospital as he spoke to detectives.
The hysterical father of three refused to accept that his wife was dead,
He begged police and medical staff to “go help Kym” and appeared inconsolable when police told him nothing could be done.
“Please no, I loved her so much. Please help Kym. Please, please. It can’t be. Make it go away.
“I am a coward. I ran. I should have stayed to protect her.”
Cobby admits he had been at the home the night his wife died – but he had been there to protect his family, he claimed.
“I have four individuals trying to extort money, but I couldn’t pay them,” he said.
He claimed the would-be extortionists turned on him after he taught them currency trading, and they ultimately demanded that he hand over millions of dollars.
“They threatened us. We went to the police, but you wouldn’t listen.”
As Cobby was leaving the property, he claims an unknown man ambushed his wife as he was about to get into his car.
“Kym had taken the brunt, and I remember thinking I am next.
“He was on top of Kym, and I’ve laid over Kym trying to protect her. I got hit in the back of the
head, I think.
“I couldn’t save her.
“He was following me. I ran. I’m a coward,” a hysterical Cobby sobbed to police.
Cobby fled the scene in a panic, tripping several times during his frantic bid to escape, he said.
He was found by police at a nearby property and taken into custody.
During his interview, Cobby said police had been told the family believed they were in danger and failed to protect them.
“We called the police. Kym has called the police,” he said.
“Please know, we have been to the police. Kym has been petrified.
“Look in the file, look in the system. The information is there. We have been to the police, but they wouldn’t listen.
“They refused to take it seriously.”
He also claimed Mrs Cobby’s mother hated him and ruined their relationship, and his brother-in-law hired a hitman to kill him.
The trial continues.