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Home / New Zealand

Webster: 'I have nothing to hide'

By Rebecca Milne
Herald on Sunday·
26 Jul, 2008 05:00 PM7 mins to read

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KEY POINTS:

A hospital worker accused of murdering his first wife and plotting to kill his second, Kiwi, partner has broken his silence to protest his innocence - but says he doesn't care if people believe him or not.

From his home in Oban, on the west coast of Scotland,
Malcolm Webster told the Herald on Sunday his first wife, Claire Morris was the "most perfect" person he has ever met.

He denied allegations he tried to kill his second spouse, New Zealand nurse Felicity Drumm, after drugging her and driving into a power pole on Auckland's North Shore.

And he accused Drumm and her parents of trying to turn their 8-year-old son against him.

His comments have created fresh heartache for the Drumms, who described Webster as an "accomplished liar".

The 49-year-old has been dogged by suspicion over the death of his first wife 14 years ago. But in a series of emails over the past week, he said he had nothing to do with it.

"My first wife's death was a tragic event and there is not a single day that I don't think of her," he wrote. "She was the most perfect person I have ever met, I really don't care if people believe that or not."

London-born Webster married Morris in September 1993 but she died in a fiery crash eight months later. Webster was driving a 4WD Daihatsu when it swerved off a remote road in Aberdeenshire and ploughed into a tree.

He crawled from the wreckage before it was engulfed by a fireball.

The 32-year-old nurse's death was classified as an accident and Webster received a £200,000 ($506,000) insurance payout.

Scottish police launched a murder investigation after forensic tests from her stored blood samples revealed she had a powerful sedative - clonazepam, used to treat epilepsy - in her system at the time of the crash.

Webster said he had not been interviewed by Scottish police since the case had been reopened.

"I will be more than happy if they wish to speak to me but I am not suspected of killing anyone."

After her death, Webster rebuilt his life in Saudi Arabia, where he met Drumm, also a nurse, in a local hospital. The pair emigrated to Britain and there have been reports of suspicious fires soon after - one at the couple's cottage in Aberdeenshire.

The insurance payout was about £68,000 ($182,209).

In April 1997, the couple wed in a Catholic church in Auckland, where Webster was welcomed by his new in-laws, former Tikipunga High School principal Brian Drumm and his wife Margaret.

In a radio interview earlier this year, Brian described Webster as well-presented, personable, pleasant and well-spoken.

The newlyweds found their dream home, a six-bedroom Victorian villa in North Shore's Bayswater Point but never completed the purchase because Drumm was injured in a car crash. The couple were allegedly on their way to sign some legal papers, with Drumm in the passenger seat, when their car crashed into a pole near Takapuna.

Afterwards Drumm complained to her doctor of blackouts. Tests revealed she had clonazepam in her system.

Drumm made a police complaint against her husband, accusing him of secretly drugging her.

Webster told the Herald on Sunday his relationship with Drumm was "different" but denied the crash had ever happened. "I know that we both had issues that we brought into the relationship, and I am sure that we both learned things about each other that we didn't know when we lived in the Middle East.

"However... there was no crash whatsoever. We came off the main highway in the middle of the day and pulled up on the grass verge as there was a vibration with the car. There was no injury whatsoever to Felicity.

"A simple check will confirm this and there was no damage to the car."

Police confirmed Webster faces four charges, the first for an attempted arson at the Bayswater house in January 1999.

They allege he stuffed newspaper through the letterbox and set it alight.

There was only minor damage to the house, which was vacant at the time of the fire.

He is also charged with setting fire to the Takapuna house of Drumm's parents two weeks later and shortly before the car crash.

The third charge is of stupefying Drumm between April 26, 1997, reportedly their wedding day, and February 1999, and the fourth of administering clonazepam.

When Webster failed to appear at North Shore District Court in July 2000 arrest warrants were issued which are still outstanding.

He claims he had already left New Zealand but attempted to return for the hearing, and another before the Family Court.

The keen fisherman said he was refused entry and detained at Auckland airport because of a statement given to police that he might harm Drumm.

"I spoke to my lawyer on the phone at the airport and even suggested that the police come and interview me, however they didn't bother and I had to return back to the UK. There seems little point in putting charges to the court if you are not allowing the person to enter the country.

"Since then I have not been allowed a visa, lost a judicial review, but far worse than that is not being able to see my son.

"I am sure that Felicity and her father have explained to my son that his father is a terrible person."

Webster claimed New Zealand police had not showed any interest in the case since then.

"If I had been guilty of any of the allegations that Felicity and her father had made, I would have had no interest in trying to return to New Zealand," he said. "I returned because I knew then, and still do that the allegations were not true."

North Shore Detective Inspector Mike Bush could not comment when asked why Webster was refused entry to New Zealand in 2000. "All I can say at the moment is we are in touch with the UK authorities via our liaison officer in London."

Asked if New Zealand Police could extradite Webster, Bush said he would wait to see what happened with the British investigation. "We don't want an investigation via the media. We know that everything is being monitored by UK authorities, so we're quite confident that matters are well in hand. He can criticise away."

A spokesman for Scottish Police refused a request for an interview with the officer in charge of the investigation because there is "nothing that we need to say at the moment".

Drumm said she couldn't say much because the police were investigating. "My comment is, the basis of what Malcolm is saying is untrue," the Auckland City Hospital medical oncology nurse said.

Her mother was upset when shown Webster's emails and said she was unsure how much more the family could take.

"We can't take any more shocks. He [Webster] is an accomplished liar."

The Herald on Sunday sent Webster a list of more than 50 supplementary questions.

He acknowledged the email but did not answer them and said he was going away for a few days.

Webster worked for years as a project manager for Britain's National Health Service before settling in Oban in 2002.

He has since worked for Argyll and Bute Community Health Partnership and as an adviser on a health board panel but was reportedly dismissed.

Reports suggest he had a new love interest in Dr Simone Banerjee, who works at Oban's Lorn and Islands Hospital.

Banerjee refused to comment when contacted by the Herald on Sunday this week.

Webster said his comments were an attempt to address inaccuracies in previous reports.

"I am not asking you to believe me," he said. "I have nothing to hide. I am still waiting to see if the police wish to speak to me.

"I hope that Felicity is happy and I wish her well, but I believe that there have been some very strange practices undertaken with regards to the allegations made against me."

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