Robert Dickie's neighbour found out he had a new woman staying at his property hours before she allegedly murdered him.
The 71-year-old called Kylie So a “very good friend" when introducing her to his neighbour at Elong Elong in central west NSW on June 14, 2016, her trial has been told.
Ms So , 51, pleaded not guilty to murder after being extradited from New Zealand in 2020, where she had returned the same month Mr Dickie disappeared.
His body has not been found despite police diving into dams and draining septic tanks in their search.
Ms So met the neighbour four days after travelling from New Zealand to Dubbo, where she booked a motel and picked up $1500 transferred by her brother before Mr Dickie brought her to his 36-hectare farm.
She told Mr Dickie’s neighbour she was not on holiday, but would “stay here with Bob”.
Crown prosecutor Liam Shaw said on Monday he expects that neighbour to tell the NSW Supreme Court Mr Dickie then “dropped his head and looked away” before the conversation abruptly ended.
Ms So ran into the same neighbour at a Dubbo phone shop two days later, but did not mention police had been at the house the previous night looking for Mr Dickie.
Mr Shaw is asking Justice Mark Ierace to infer Mr Dickie told Ms So she could no longer stay with him, leading to a “blood-shedding event” in his bedroom.
Drops of blood were later found on his bed and mattress, spattered on walls, and underneath carpet.
Mr Dickie died from injuries Ms So inflicted with the intention to at least cause him grievous bodily harm, then disposed of his body, Mr Shaw said.
Ms So’s barrister Ian Nash said it was implausible Ms So killed him alone then disposed of his body on the property.
She could not have dumped it elsewhere because she did not know combinations to padlocked gates.
If she had, Mr Dickie’s son would not have seen her climb over one when she returned from Dubbo on June 16, where she bought a new phone, applied for a temporary Medicare card and set up a bank account, Mr Nash said.
Ms So told police Mr Dickie said he was going to a party and would be back within hours before leaving the property with others.
“That is a lie by the accused intended to divert the police and to hide the true state of affairs,” Mr Shaw told the Dubbo court.
Mr Nash said Mr Dickie’s “lifestyle” brought him into contact with a “milieu” that pointed to a reasonable possibility others were involved in his disappearance and that he might not have told Ms So the true reason he was meeting them.
He could also still be alive, Mr Nash said.
“The inference that he is dead, rather than wanting to slip into the shadows or disappear as it were, isn’t one that might be drawn as strongly," he said.
The judge-alone trial continues.
