Murder-accused Qld man admits burying wife

A Queensland man denies murdering his wife but admits burying her body at an undisclosed spot, digging it up a few years later and burying it again at their family home.

Edmund Ian Riggs went on trial on Monday accused of murdering Patricia Anne Riggs on September 30, 2001 at their home in Margate, amid marital woes.

Riggs, 60, denies that charge but pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to misconduct with his wife's corpse by interfering.

Ms Riggs, 34, disappeared after a weekend of arguments with her estranged husband, crown prosecutor Todd Fuller QC told the jury in his opening address.

Riggs told police at the time his wife had accused him of having an affair before walking out on the family later in the weekend.

He claimed he had no idea where she'd gone or what had happened to her, Mr Fuller said.

An examination found blood splatters on the pink floral wallpaper behind the bedhead in the couple's bedroom.

Then police discovered Ms Riggs hadn't accessed her bank accounts, called her family or shown up for work since her disappearance.

Despite this, no charges were laid until 2015 when the new occupant of the Riggs' Margate home was digging in the backyard due to drainage problems and discovered bones under a shed.

Mr Fuller said Riggs had lied for almost 18 years to cover up his wife's murder.

"It was lie that served him well until his wife's partial remains were discovered buried in the backyard of their home," he said.

The incomplete skeleton, which was wrapped in a pool liner, had damage to the right cheek bone and part of the jaw bone was missing.

Due to excessive weathering the cause of death was not clear.

Defence lawyer Lars Falongreen told the trial that Riggs doesn't dispute he lied about his wife's death.

"There was significant problems in their marriage ... it's not going to be disputed that she died that night in the course of an argument ... it's not in dispute that he buried his wife ... that's a fact," he said.

"It's common ground that following her death he took her away, buried her somewhere else and then brought her back years later and buried her at Janet Street (Margate)."

What was in dispute was what really happened between the couple before she died, he said.

"You might lie because although you didn't intend to kill you did actually unlawfully kill her and that's manslaughter."

The six-day trial continues on Tuesday.