Woman claims affair with Sharon Fulton’s accused killer as cold case murder trial hears explosive evidence

A woman has given evidence that she had an affair with a man accused of murdering his wife several years before her disappearance. Robert Maxwell Fulton, who changed his name to the TV character Raymond Reddington, is on trial for the cold case suspected murder of his wife Sharon Fulton who disappeared from Duncraig in 1986. The court was told the former RAAF technician had an affair with a colleague’s wife when both families lived at the Amberley base in Queensland between 1979 and 1980. At the Supreme Court trial, Margaret Mabel Moore, 77, gave evidence that she became friends with Mrs Fulton when both their husbands were stationed in Malaysia in the 1970s. She said the women played netball together, however it was when their families moved to the Amberley base that she began to get to know Mr Fulton as he was known at the time. Ms Moore said the two couples began playing cards together socially. Prosecutor Ben Stanwix asked, “How did you know Robert Fulton?” “It was an affair,” she said. “How long did that go on for?” “A couple of months I think,” Ms Moore replied. She said she ended it because of “guilt”. She lost contact with Mr Fulton until sometime between 1985 and 1987 — after her own husband had died — when he twice asked her out on dates. “At the time were you aware about anything that was going on with Sharon?” Mr Stanwix asked. “I honestly thought they were separated I believed that was the case,” she replied. Mrs Fulton was last seen on the morning of March 18, 1986, leaving the family home in Duncraig to drop off their son Heath, 3, in Wangara. Mr Fulton reported her missing to police three days later. The State’s case is that he was motivated to kill his wife because she had applied for divorce, custody of the children and a property settlement, and he would have to pay maintenance. In 2021, the Coroner in Mrs Fulton’s inquest received a letter claiming to be from the husband of one of her friends — claiming he had “got her pregnant and buried her under a concrete driveway”. The seemingly big breakthrough was in fact a bid to “lay a false trail”, Mr Stanwix said, with Mr Reddington’s DNA found inside the envelope. No trace of Mrs Fulton has ever been found. On Monday several of Mrs Fulton’s friends gave evidence with each woman describing her as a “private” woman who was “dedicated” to her four children. Mrs Fulton’s friend of 12 years, Patricia LaFrentz told the trial that after her disappearance she saw Mr Fulton with another woman at a RAAF Christmas function. “He was with another woman and said Sharon was in Queensland or away on holidays”, she said. Under cross-examination from defence counsel Jonathan Davies, Ms LaFrentz admitted she was “mistaken” and that Mr Fulton did not tell her his wife was in Queensland but it was in fact “announced” at the Christmas party. Mr Davies also cross-examined Ms Moore in relation to her affair with Mr Fulton. Ms Moore admitted that she had experienced problems with her memory since receiving chemotherapy 12 years ago. Mr Davies suggested she was “mistaken” about the identity of the man she had an affair with. “The person with whom you had an affair was not Robert Fulton,” he put to her. “It was. No, I disagree,” she replied. The defence case is that police conducted an inadequate, on-off investigation into Mrs Fulton’s murder and had “tunnel vision” and “confirmation bias” after deciding Mr Fulton was the killer. Mr Davies previously told the jury that police had “never properly eliminated” other predators in Perth that year including the notorious David and Catherine Birnie and the late — suspected serial killer — Terrence John Fisher. He said Mrs Fulton had a history of depression and had left the family home for a few days previously “when things with the kids got too much”. The trial continues on Tuesday.