Raymond Reddington: Elderly man accused of murdering wife Sharon Fulton 40 years ago not testifying at trial

An elderly man accused of murdering his wife 40 years ago elected not to give evidence at his Supreme Court of WA trial, as the jury tasked with solving the cold case mystery prepares to deliberate this week. Raymond Reddington gave various versions of events around the last time he saw Sharon Fulton on March 18, 1986, initially telling police he came back from work to their family home in Duncraig to discover she had left — pointing to clothes removed from her wardrobe. He then said he’d taken her to three different central Perth train stations after she indicated she would be away for some time with another man. The devoted mother of four was aged 39 when she was last seen that morning, leaving the house to drop off their three-year-old son Heath in Wangara. Her spouse of almost 19 years, who was then known as Maxwell Robert Fulton, reported her missing to police three days later. Mr Reddington, now 79, sometimes said their marriage was fine but later admitted it was troubled. His trial, which began on February 4, has been told Mrs Fulton had applied for divorce, custody of the children and a property settlement, and he would have to pay maintenance. Prosecutor Ben Stanwix said that was a clear motive to kill her, along with a $120,000 life insurance policy he took out in her name weeks before she disappeared. Mr Stanwix also said Mr Reddington’s DNA was found inside the envelope of a letter sent to the coroner in Mrs Fulton’s inquest in 2021 that claimed to be from the husband of one of her friends. It said the man had “got her pregnant and buried her under a concrete driveway”. But defence counsel Jonathan Davies accused police of an inadequate, on-off investigation, saying they had “tunnel vision” and “confirmation bias” after deciding his client was the killer. They “never properly eliminated” other predators in Perth that year including the notorious David and Catherine Birnie and the late Terrence John Fisher. After the defence case opened on Thursday and Mr Reddginton elected not to give evidence, three women testified about experiences they had that they believed involved the Birnies. One of them was a secretary for a Melville real estate agent who said David Birnie would come into her office and hit on her, being “very insistent” about her coming with him to his sister’s house. “Terrible, he was not a pleasant man at all,” she said, adding that she later recognised him on the TV news. Another was Michelle Renwick, who was 14 when her mother Cheryl Renwick vanished in May 1986, less than six months before the Birnies were arrested for abducting and killing four women. She described being forced to move home after being stalked by people who flashed car lights at them and made phone calls leaving her mother weeping on the kitchen floor. One day, a woman who looked similar to Catherine Birnie approached their home and left her “frozen” with fear, but turned away when she noticed she had been spotted, Ms Renwick said. Justice Joseph McGrath told the jury they should not draw any adverse inference from Mr Reddington electing to not give evidence. “He doesn’t have to prove anything — it is always on the State,” the judge said. Closing addresses are expected to begin on Monday. Mrs Fulton’s body has not yet been found.