A bar owner fled to Spain after a man who is accused of murdering a businesswoman threatened to break his legs, a court heard.
Patrick Burns, 35, said Colin Coats took his car and demanded thousands of pounds in cash, putting him in "a state of shock and fear". Coats, 42, and three other men are accused of abducting and murdering financial adviser Lynda Spence, who was last seen in Glasgow in April 2011.
It is alleged that Coats, David Parker, 38, Paul Smith, 47, and Philip Wade, 42, tortured the 27-year-old for up to a fortnight before her death in a bid to extract financial details from her. They all deny the charges.
Mr Burns told the High Court in Glasgow that Ms Spence owed him rent arrears on the flat where her parents were staying and, when he told her he would have to evict them, she instructed him to meet "a guy who works for me" who would deliver a month's rent.
The witness said Coats gave him £1,200 but around a year later, he demanded "his" money back plus interest and sent him threatening text messages.
At a meeting in May 2011, Coats took the BMW Series 3 car Mr Burns was driving, which belonged to his brother. After Mr Burns borrowed money from his sibling's wedding fund to give to Coats, he failed to return the car as promised.
Mr Burns, who said he owned the Bier Stube bar and restaurant in the Shawlands area of Glasgow, told the court he did not go to police for "fear of reprisals".
Coats met him at the bar in June 2011 and asked for cash from the till and when he refused "he told me he'd break my legs", the witness said.
A few days later he went to the police, then left the country for "five or six weeks".
Mr Burns said: "I decided I would stay with friends to get away from everything that had just happened."
