The High Court in Christchurch has been told a woman tried to recruit her sons to help kill her husband in order to cash in a $250,000 life insurance policy.
The Crown says Helen Milner, 50, was unhappy in her four-year marriage to Phillip Nisbett, 47, so fed him a meal laced with Phenergan, which he was allergic to.
The death in May 2009 was initially treated as suicide.
Crown prosecutor Kathy Basire on Monday told the jury that Mrs Milner spoke to her son Greg Kearns in 2009 and offered him $20,000 of the insurance money to get rid of her husband, but he declined.
Ms Basire also said Mrs Milner spoke to her other son, Adam Kearns, about hiring a hitman.
Both sons will be called as witnesses during the trial.
