NSW: Cling wrap murder case witness can't recall will forgery
05 Feb 2009 1:58 PM
SYDNEY, Feb 5 AAP - A woman has told a Sydney murder trial she cannot remember if she was present when her grandfather's will was forged by her mother.
Romina Beltrame, 20, was being cross-examined in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday by Mark Austin, barrister for her mother, Daniela Beltrame.
Daniela Beltrame, 55, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her father, Ederino Beltrame, 70, on April 26, 2001, after she tied him with cling wrap to his bed at his Canley Heights home, in Sydney's west.
But she has admitted forging his will.
Her daughter has told the jury she saw her mother holding a pillow over her grandfather's face on April 26, 2001, but she did not report this to police until early 2007 because her mother threatened to kill herself.
Mr Austin asked her about a phone call, secretly taped by police in 2001, in which Ms Beltrame told her mother that a witness to the will had to be informed about the time it was signed.
"I don't know what was going through my mind," Ms Beltrame said.
"Was it the case when your mother forged your grandfather's signature on this will (that) you were present?" Mr Austin asked.
"I cannot remember, I am sorry," she replied.
"Can't you remember your mother showing you the signature which looked like the signature on the document she copied it from?" he asked.
"I can't remember it," Ms Beltrame said.
She told the barrister she was not saying it hadn't happened, but that "I simply do not remember".
Her cross-examination is continuing before Acting Justice Jane Mathews.
