A woman was likely already dead before her body suffered catastrophic damage in what her husband claimed was an accident involving a tractor's slashing machinery, a judge has heard.
Yadwinder Singh, 44, was charged with the murder of his wife Amarjit Kaur Sardar, 41, and interfering with a corpse after emergency services were called to the couple's farmland property at Woodhill, south of Brisbane, at 9.15am on February 15, 2024.
The prosecution has alleged Ms Sardar was found with both her legs amputated two metres away from the tractor's vegetation slashing attachment and was declared dead at the scene.
Singh applied for bail in Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday and Justice Catherine Muir questioned his lawyer Andrew Bale about the prosecution evidence.
"The injuries that caused the death are not consistent with the slasher," Justice Muir said.
The autopsy found a lack of bleeding from Ms Sardar's tractor wounds, which suggested they could have occurred post-mortem and that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head and face.
Mr Bale said the forensic pathologist's opinion would need to be tested at trial via a cross-examination and there was no medical evidence to support the prosecution's claim that Ms Sardar was killed by being hit in the head with a brick.
"There is no forensic or scientific evidence for what (the prosecution) suggests is a murder weapon is capable or likely of being so," Mr Bale said.
Mr Bale said any suggestion Singh had a motive to kill Ms Sardar was pure speculation.
"The statement made by (Singh) when emergency services arrived was that this was an accident. Of course, that would provide him with a defence," Mr Bale said.
Singh previously told police he had been having an argument with Ms Sardar then got into the tractor and reversed the vehicle with the slasher running.
"He described a creaking sound, thinking he had hit bricks, and saw a foot in the slasher. He moved the slasher forward and saw (Ms Sardar) on the ground," Justice Muir said.
Justice Muir said the prosecution allegedly found a number of recordings on Ms Sardar's phone of her talking about her concern that Singh would try to kill her.
"A recording the day that she died captured (Singh) in the background and (Ms Sardar) suggesting that if she was murdered (Singh) is responsible," Justice Muir said.
Mr Bale said there had been issues in the relationship between Singh and Ms Sardar for some time.
"(Singh) had an appointment about eight days prior with a psychologist seeking assistance for the deceased because of her erratic behaviour," Mr Bale said
Justice Muir asked Mr Bale if he would accept Singh had a history of domestic violence.
"I don't know whether there would be evidence of actual physical violence but there was certainly evidence of controlling-type behaviour," Mr Bale said.
Crown prosecutor Samantha O'Rourke said the medical evidence was inconsistent with a claim of accidental death.
"There is medical evidence (the cause of death) was consistent with blunt force injuries and not a mower mechanism," Ms O'Rourke said.
Ms O'Rourke said a brick found at the farm could not be conclusively matched to her head injuries but it tested positive for her DNA and had blood on it.
"A brick was located within 45 metres of the scene with hair consistent with (Ms Sardar) contained on it," she said.
Ms O'Rourke said Ms Sardar sent Singh an email before her death saying she was ending the relationship and wanted a share of their property.
Singh emigrated from India in 2005 and became an Australian citizen in 2008, but Justice Muir said he still retained strong ties to the country of his birth where almost all his family members resided.
"I'm not satisfied any of the bail conditions proposed could sufficiently ameliorate the risk of (Signh) absconding," she said
Justice Muir said the crown case appeared reasonably strong and denied Singh bail.
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