Accused killer Gerard Baden-Clay was facing debts of around $1 million at the time his wife disappeared.
FOLLOW our rolling coverage of day five of the committal hearing to determine if Gerard Baden-Clay will stand trial for murder of wife Allison.
3.43pm: ALL six plant species found in Allison Baden-Clay's hair and on her body were found in the car port area of her backyard, the court has heard.
But four of those plant species could not have come from the Kholo Creek area at Anstead where her body was found.
Dr Gordon Guymer, director of the Queensland Herbarium, was given samples of plant material found in Allison's hair, arms and around her head to compare to plant species at her home and the Kholo Creek.
Dr Guymer visited both locations and listed the plant species found in each area.
He told the court only two of the plant species found on Allison's body could be found at Kholo Creek.
"The other species I did not observe, did not see (at Kholo Creek), even though I conducted an extensive survey," Dr Guymer said.
"All the plant species were present in the vicinity of the house.
"On the back patio there was a very good coverage of leaf litter."
He said some of the species found on Allison's body that were growing in her back yard were not found in nearby Brookfield houses.
COURT: An artist's sketch of Gerard Baden-Clay's mistress Toni McHugh during the committal hearing in Brisbane. Ms McHugh gave a tearful account on the stand in day four of the committal hearing to determine if Gerard Baden-Clay (inset) will stand trial for the murder of his wife Allison (inset right).
3.22pm: AN insect expert has told the Brisbane Magistrates Court about different caterpillar species and whether they would irritate the skin.
Professor Myron Zalucki, an entomologist and insect ecologist, said while most caterpillars were harmless, some had poisonous "hairs" that would cause pain and irritation.
"Very painful, very painful," he said of some species of caterpillar.
"It lasts quite a while and you would probably head off to the doctor."
Prof Zalucki said he had looked at photographs of injuries on Baden-Clay's chest but could not give an opinion on whether they had been caused by a caterpillar.
Defence barrister Peter Davis asked whether Prof Zalucki thought Baden-Clay had been bitten.
"(If it) had lodged in the chest area and discharged its hairs, it would cause irritation, that's possible," Prof Zalucki said.
When asked whether Baden-Clay's injuries looked like irritation from a caterpillar, he said "that's hard to judge".
"One tends to break out in red patches," he said.
WITNESS: Brookfield woman Christine Skrzeczynski contacted police as she believes she was the person spoted walking along Boscombe Rd on the morning Allison Baden-Clay was reported missing.
"Different people will react in different ways."
Prof Zalucki said he could not find any evidence of poisonous caterpillars, the kind that would cause skin irritation, in the Brookfield area.
"We went to the site where this supposedly occurred," he said.
"I could not find any nests on those Acacia trees.
"I then searched the literature ... and it is limited ... and could find none."
11.22am: Defence barrister Peter Davis said only one of the three routes Brookfield woman Christine Skrzeczynski takes on her morning walk would have had her on Boscombe Rd for any length of time.
Ms Skrzeczynski believes she was the person police were seeking who was spotted walking on the morning Allison Baden-Clay was reported missing.
She said she did not remember which of the three routes she would have taken that morning.
Ms Skrzeczynski said she usually leaves home between 6.15am to 6.30am to get to her job as a teacher librarian by 7am.
WITNESS: Brookfield woman Cerian Morris said she heard sounds on the night Allison Baden-Clay disappeared.
''To go the long route takes longer so I would leave for work a little bit later,'' she said.
''Sometimes I don't feel like the whole long way - sometimes I choose to do a shorter one because I'm feeling a little bit lazy.''
11.05am: A woman has come forward to say she believes she was the person spotted walking along Boscombe Rd, Brookfield, on the morning Allison Baden-Clay was reported missing.
Christine Skrzeczynski, a Brookfield resident, said she read in The Courier-Mail during Gerard Baden-Clay's bail hearing that a witness had seen a woman walking down Boscombe Rd matching Allison's description.
''I came forward because at the time of the bail hearing, just before Christmas, I read in The Courier-Mail that a witness had seen a lone woman walking on Boscombe Rd,'' she said.
''I thought there was a very strong likelihood that that would be me."
Ms Skrzeczynski said she always walks that route in the mornings that she works.
''I do that without fail, whatever the weather, and I don't see other people walking at that time in that location.''
Ms Skrzeczynski, a woman of similar age to Allison with blonde hair, provided evidence to the court that she had worked that day.
WITNESS: Dr Candice Beaven said Gerard Baden-Clay told her he injured himself while shaving with an old razor.
She also provided the court with photographs of outfits she would wear while walking.
10.57am: A financial advisor has been called to the stand and then dismissed without cross examination.
Tommy Laskaris, a financial advisor, said he knew Baden-Clay and his wife through dealing with their finances.
The court was adjourned so defence barrister Peter Davis could read some financial documents.
When the hearing resumed, Mr Davis said he did not need to question Mr Laskaris.
RELATED COVERAGE:
BADEN-CLAY: Tears in court as mistress testifies
DAY FOUR: Rolling coverage of Gerard Baden-Clay's committal hearing
DAY THREE: Gerard Baden-Clay's business partners testify
DAY TWO: Former Qld minister hears screams in the night
INSIGHT: Love and death laid out in court
10.11am: A Brookfield woman has confirmed she heard sounds on the night Allison Baden-Clay disappeared.
Cerian Morris was not cross examined by the defence team and was on the stand for about a minute.
She was not asked for any details of what she heard.
10.07am: A second doctor has told of a series of explanations Gerard Baden-Clay provided when he went to see her about scratches on his face, neck and body.
After visiting a doctor in Kenmore the morning after he reported his wife missing, Baden-Clay went to see a second doctor at 4.30pm in Taringa.
Dr Renu Kumar said she was told by Baden-Clay that he had cut himself shaving with an old razor.
She said she also looked at injuries on his chest and his armpit.
The court heard Baden-Clay told her he had caused the injuries on his chest and armpit by scratching himself.
''That looked consistent,'' she said.
The court heard she queried scratch marks on his chest, wondering whether the direction of the scratches meant they could be self-inflicted.
''Why can't you scratch yourself in the sternum?'' defence barrister Peter Davis asked.
''It's easily reachable by both hands.''
Dr Kumar said it was possible.
''I was concerned about the direction of the scratches,'' she said.
''I suppose when you are scratching with your own hand it's more of an arch.
''So that's what I was clarifying.''
The court heard Baden-Clay told her the scratches on his neck were from a caterpillar.
''He told me a caterpillar landed...and he scratched the caterpillar away,'' she said.
A large patch of grazing was from scratching an ''itch'', the court heard.
''He was itchy and he scratched himself there,'' she said.
9.47am: A general practitioner who looked at scratches on Gerard Baden-Clay's face the day after he reported his wife missing has told how he claimed to have cut himself shaving with a blunt razor.
Baden-Clay went to see Dr Candice Beaven at the Kenmore Clinic Medical Centre at 8.30am on April 21 and asked her to look at his injuries.
The real estate agent has been charged with the murder of his wife Allison and interfering with her corpse.
The six-day committal hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to send him to trial.
The court heard Dr Beaven made extensive notes on her consultation with Baden-Clay about a week later.
''He obviously said that he injured himself while shaving with an old razor,'' defence barrister Peter Davis said.
Dr Beaven agreed.
''He said that he had been in a rush and that he had cut himself while shaving with a blunt razor,'' she said.
''He said initially that he thought it may have been in one motion and then I queried it because it was unusual that there were three separate abrasions and he said that he couldn't be sure because he was in a rush and it may have happened it a few.''
RELATED COVERAGE:
BADEN-CLAY: Tears in court as mistress testifies
DAY FOUR: Rolling coverage of Gerard Baden-Clay's committal hearing
DAY THREE: Gerard Baden-Clay's business partners testify
DAY TWO: Former Qld minister hears screams in the night
INSIGHT: Love and death laid out in court
