SA man faces trial over wife's 1973 murder

A South Australian man will face a jury in his trial for the 1973 cold case murder of his wife whose remains were found in the backyard of their home in 2018.

Geoffrey Adams appeared in the Supreme Court on Monday where he entered a not guilty plea to the murder charge.

The 71-year-old was remanded in custody to return to court next month, when a date for his trial will be set.

Adams had previously told police he awoke about 7am on Thursday, November 22, 1973, to find his wife Colleen fully dressed with two packed suitcases.

According to Adams, she said she was leaving and never wanted to see him or the children again, before getting into a car with a middle-aged woman he did not know.

Mrs Adams was reported missing by her mother about a month later, but the case was not declared a major crime until 1979.

In a renewed investigation, police converged on the couple's Maitland home in September 2018 and discovered the woman's remains under a concrete slab.