A Victorian man accused of murdering his estranged wife allegedly waited outside her house, attacked her and then made her death look like a suicide, a court has heard.
WARNING: This story contains details that will be distressing to some readers.
Adrian Basham, 45, is standing trial in the Supreme Court in Melbourne charged with the murder of Samantha Fraser on Phillip Island in 2018.
In their opening address on Wednesday, prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC told the court Mr Basham was abusive and controlling during his decade-long relationship with Ms Fraser and continued to threaten and track her after they separated.
She said it culminated in him attacking her and setting up the scene to make it look as though she had taken her own life.
Defence lawyer Ashley Halphen told the jury Mr Basham "vehemently denied" that his behaviour was abusive or controlling, and argued the possibility of suicide could not be ruled out.
A 'rocky' relationship
Mr Basham and Ms Fraser met in early 2006.
He worked in construction. She was a psychologist.
By March 2007 they were married and would go on to have three children.
By about 2012 they were living in Cowes, the main town on Phillip Island, about two hours south-east of Melbourne.
According to the prosecution their relationship became "unhappy over time", marred by his "controlling and abusive" behaviour.
The defence acknowledges the relationship hit "rocky roads" but denies the claims of controlling and abusive behaviour.
Ms Fraser was also was convinced he was tracking her.
"When she disabled [the location apps] on her phone, she got a call from him within an hour," said Ms Rogers.
"He was angry, demanded to know where she was and berated her for disabling the application."
Ms Rogers told the court that Ms Fraser had told multiple family members and friends she was "frightened of [Mr Basham]" and wanted to leave him.
"She told [a psychologist] she was fearful of leaving the accused," said Ms Rogers.
"She decided to separate but was frightened and believed he was likely to become vindictive."
The court heard that after several attempts to end her relationship, Ms Fraser left Mr Basham in 2017.
In April, police took out an intervention order on her behalf; Mr Basham was to have no further face-to-face contact with her or go near the family home.
He left the island, but prosecutors alleged he continued to threaten her via texts and phone calls.
"[He told her] you'll never know when someone will break into your house," Ms Rogers told the court.
The court also heard Mr Basham was convinced Ms Fraser was having affairs and he spoke "aggressively" to a friend about how he wanted her back and that he would "make her pay financially and in other ways".
During and after the breakdown of her marriage, Ms Fraser struggled with depression and her mental health, the court heard.
She allegedly lived in fear of Mr Basham, changing locks on the house and putting in new security systems.
However, the court heard that prior to her death, Ms Fraser was improving steadily and had recently entered a new relationship.
After her 38th birthday, days before she lost her life, her new partner asked her how she would remember this year.
"As the beginning of a wonderful new stage of my life," she told him.
Was it murder or suicide?
In July 2018 Mr Basham returned to Phillip Island.
He was seen around his old house — breaching the intervention order. This is admitted by the defence.
The Crown alleges that Mr Basham waited for Ms Fraser to leave to take the children to school.
When Ms Fraser returned she encountered Mr Basham in the garage, the court heard.
After she failed to pick up her children from school that afternoon, police forced entry into her garage where they found her body.
Her cause of death was later confirmed as "hanging in the setting of multiple blunt force injuries", consistent with an assault.
The Crown claims Mr Basham assaulted her and hung her, setting up the scene to make it look like she had taken her own life.
The defence admitted that, whether or not it was intentional, Mr Basham caused Ms Fraser non-fatal injuries.
However Mr Halphen said that Ms Fraser was still alive when Mr Basham left the property.
Mr Halphen asked the jury to consider that Ms Fraser had taken her own life, reminding them that if suicide was plausible in any way, Mr Basham could not be found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
"This trial is more a whodunnit than anything else," he told the jury.
"There is significant overlap between two cases but only up to a certain point.
"The respective endings that will be advanced and argued later will be very, very different."
