Scott Guy: Accused killer's wife tells of phone call

Anna Macdonald. Photo / Graeme Brown

Murder accused Ewen MacDonald broke down in tears during a phone call to his wife shortly after he appeared in court charged with killing her brother Scott Guy on their family farm last year.

MacDonald, 30, appeared in the Palmerston North District Court on Friday charged with murdering Mr Guy, 31, in the driveway of his Feilding home last July.

Anna MacDonald arrived at court with Mr Guy's widow Kylee and her baby son Drover - born three months after the murder.

She revealed last night what her husband told her when he phoned her from the cells after that court appearance.

"He just cried and he said 'I can't stop thinking about you and the kids'," she told 60 Minutes last night.

"I really needed to know that he was worried about us. That's one of the things I married him for, he was so good at looking after me and such a protector. I felt secure and safe with him and that was a big thing."

She said she felt for the couple's four children - Finn, 7, Jack, 6, Lucy, 4, and Wade, 2.

"Now they don't have a father either."

The couple met when they were 15 and got engaged at 19.

"It's not like we were only together for a couple of years ... we've known each other for 15 years.

"I can't just switch off. The day before I loved him and we were laughing. I can't just switch off and say 'I don't love you any more'. We've just been through so much together in these last nine months. I don't know how we could just write that off."

Mr Guy was best man at MacDonald's wedding and the pair were business partners, running the family farm. MacDonald was also a pallbearer at Mr Guy's funeral and stood with his wife as she spoke in church.

Mr Guy's father Bryan last week revealed family meetings had to be held in recent years to iron our rivalries between MacDonald and his son over the running of the farm.

Mrs MacDonald said last night the men spent most of their time together.

"I just don't understand, I really don't. I just can't believe it. Until he says 'I have done it' or they've got something ... " She did not know why her husband had been charged.

"I'm pretty much the same as the public. I don't know much more - so what have I got to go off? I haven't seen him yet, so I'm hoping that maybe when I see him I might be able to look into his eyes ... I know him, I just know him so well."

Mrs MacDonald said the day her husband was arrested police had told her to "prepare for the worst".

Bryan Guy said MacDonald had been a "great" husband to his daughter and an "absolutely adored" father. "We're proud of him, he's part of the family," he said.

"There is no finger pointing, no anger, just sadness and a lot of love, even for the man accused of Scott's murder."

Mr Guy's mother Jo said her son-in-law's arrest felt like the family's "Mt Everest". "And we're at the bottom, and you think, 'how the heck are we going to get up?"' she said.

"I just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. And yelled. And screamed. And swore. I don't normally swear but I've sworn a lot in the last few days."

The Guys have spent time with MacDonald's parents Kerry and Marlene. "They came and saw us and came around to see how Anna was. It's been really devastating for them and it may be harder for them than it is for us in a lot of ways," Bryan Guy said.

- Staff reporter