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Emma Walters told a private investigator that she wanted a gun so she could lure her former husband, construction union boss John Setka, to her home to use it on him before claiming self-defence, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, Walters appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court facing allegations she made threats to kill Setka and tried to get a firearm in March this year.

Emma Walters outside court on Tuesday.Credit: Simon Schluter

The court heard Walters was recorded by private investigator Adrian Peeters, claiming she needed the gun because she feared being assaulted and raped by the union boss.

In the recording, played to the court, Peeters and Walters are walking through her West Footscray home when she says she wants to obtain a “piece”, slang for a gun, to use on the union heavyweight.

“I’m gonna have to lure him here and I’m going to have to use it, I know how to use a gun … I just need a gun to deal with the consequences and having to go through the court process of self-defence, I have that capacity,” she is heard saying, occasionally slurring her words.

“I have to put him in a situation where I have access to it [the gun] for the purpose of self-defence … not done with anything other than trying to survive.”

“I’ve got no other solution to the situation that I’m in.”

The court heard Peeters had originally been contacted in January to remove any bugging and listening devices from Walters’ home and install CCTV cameras before attending the residence again on March 21.

Peeters told the court the conversation quickly shifted from discovering bugging devices to the practicalities of killing Setka and how to ensure it would not be seen by police as premeditated.

“She stated that she needed a piece, and that she had to kill the father of her children,” he told magistrate Leon Fluxman.

CFMMEU boss John Setka outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court with Walters in June 2019.Credit: Jason South

Peeters said the pair were talking in the garage for about four minutes before he began recording the conversation.

“I need you to give me a piece and I need to kill the father of my children,” Peeters recounted Walters saying. “I need to lure him here, you need to help me”.

Peeters said he switched on the recording to have “proof” and a “backup” of what was being said because he was concerned for his own safety when Walters began asking him how to get a gun and where it could be stored in her home to be accessible.

“There are a lot of things being said it was I in a garage with a person I didn’t know,” he told the court, “and they’re asking me to obtain a firearm, and they’re talking to me about a possible murder, so it was a bit uneasy.”

The court heard Walters tell Peeters that she was the victim of various assaults, including rape, by Setka, and was concerned it was going to happen again. Walters later told police in an interview played in court that she feared Setka and wanted to protect herself and their children.

In the recording Walters talks about feeling like she has no other option but to take drastic actions to protect her family. Peeters reiterates several times that he feels sorry for Walters.

After the pair’s conversation, Peeters left the house and contacted Setka’s lawyers, who told him to go to police.

In an interview with police Walters told Detective Acting Sergeant Daniel Ramirez that Setka sought to control and coerce her over the course of their separation, saying that he pressured her into making public statements indicating “he never did anything wrong”.

After being played audio of her speaking about killing Setka, Walters told police: “Have I got any intention to kill John Setka? No. Do I have a responsibility to protect myself and the children? Yes.”

Walters told Ramirez she used florid language to express her level of concern because she believed she needed to protect her children.

“Do I want to kill John Setka? No, not at all. Do I have to protect myself? Yes … That’s a woman that’s been in distress, and where the system has failed her and her children time and time and time again,” she said.

Walters also denied to police that she wanted to lure Setka to her home.

In August police dropped the more serious charge of attempting to incite others to conspire to kill.

The hearing continues.

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