An ex-girlfriend of Marion Barter’s secret lover has told an inquest of her relationship with the mysterious man, including their plans to “start a new life” in the French Riviera and him boasting of his wealth and assets.
Ms Barter, a mother of two and award-winning schoolteacher, disappeared in 1997 while on a working holiday overseas.
The coronial inquest at Byron Bay Courthouse is examining the circumstances of her disappearance and suspected death, including whether her disappearance was intentional.
It has already been rocked by shocking revelations that Ms Barter had a secret lover called Ric Blum, whom she had been seeing not long before disappearance, and that he used different aliases like “Frederick de Hedervary” and “Fernand Remakel”.
Janet Oldenburg, an ex-girlfriend of Mr Blum, gave evidence of her relationship with the man after being introduced through coin-selling circles.
She told the court she knew him as “Ric West”.
Ms Oldenburg said he discussed setting up a computer and fax machine at her home as part of the business.
“He wanted me to look at his emails, take orders for coins and post them off (and) do coin bidding down in Sydney” she said.
“He wanted to help me out because of my predicament and give me some work … I knew there was some money in coins.”
Ms Oldenburg said she was out of a job and did not have any money xjmtzywat the time.
She revealed the pair eventually began a sexual relationship and Mr West asked her to “start a new life” with him in the French Riviera.
The court was told that Mr West had bragged of having millions of dollars in coin dealings and 20,000 acres (8093 hectares) of land in NSW.
Adam Casselden, counsel assisting the coroner, said Mr West had denied there were plans to settle overseas.
“I was trying to get over (my ex-husband) … I just felt very vulnerable,” Ms Oldenburg responded.
“He was telling me all these things.”
Ms Oldenburg became suspicious when she noticed Mr West had different names listed on his personal documents, including “Richard Lloyd Westbury” and “Rich Richard”.
The court was told the pair embarked on an overseas trip together but parted ways during the trip.
“He wanted to go over to France and do business, so he suggested I see my cousin in Manchester,” Ms Oldenburg said.
Ms Barter was last seen by her family at a Gold Coast bus stop in June 1997.
Later investigations revealed Ms Barter changed her name to “Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel” and had flown back into Australia under that name.
A former “companion” of Mr Blum on Thursday gave evidence that they had discussed setting up a coin-selling business together.
Ginette-Gaffney Bowan said Mr Blum had responded to a newspaper ad she placed seeking friendship, but their “relationship” took a sinister turn.
She revealed he had taken explicit photos of her in bed, which she believed to be a form of blackmail.
“He may have caught me at a very low emotional stage in my life, and I may have thought he was drugging me,” Ms Bowan said.
“I cannot understand how he got me undressed in my bedroom.”
The inquest continues.
