Mr. Park himself told us that it was after Rachel's birth in 1971 that his relationship with Carol changed. In his view the births of the two children in such a short time took a lot out of her. He recalled the other witnesses who spoke of her sparkle and spontaneity, but he told you that at this time she appeared more tired and withdrawn. She was also taken up by her work. He told you that they shared the household tasks of cooking and caring for the children. He said they got on fine nonetheless, and the children were a lot of fun, as he put it.
He first mentioned to us matrimonial difficulties for the period in the early 1970's, when he became suspicious that Carol might be involved with another man. He thought this was in 1972. He confronted the man concerned, who as Mr. Park put it, made a clean breast of it. The man admitted there had been some kissing and cuddling, but nothing else had happened. He also remembered an incident slightly before that when he had been working outside the house with a friend. He thought it was in September 1969, and of course I think Carol would probably have been pregnant with Jeremy. He had seen Carol pack a bag and go off in a huff, but he could not remember what all this was about and she had come back that same evening.
Then things went further downhill in March of 1974. Mr. Park discovered that his wife was having an affair with a man by the name of Foster. He was someone that his wife had met in the course of her Open University studies. He was a local married man he told us with children, and he said that in discussions with this man's wife when he tried to find out more about what was going on, he discovered that the affair had been going on for some time. There was one occasion he spoke of where Carol had gone off with Mr. Foster, but returned the next day. Thereafter, nonetheless he told us that his wife had stayed. She told him she was contrite, I think was the word he used, and she recognised she had made a mistake. He said he still loved his wife at that time, and he wanted them to be together and to try to put the Foster incident behind them.