A man who, along with his former girlfriend, is accused of murdering a woman has told a Sydney jury about the intense relationship he had with his ex.
"Within two months I bought her an engagement ring and told her parents, and within three months was planning a wedding," Justin Kent Dilosa testified on Friday.
Dilosa and Carol Marie McHenry have pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering Danielle Easey in a Narara home on August 17, 2019.
Each of them blames the other, claiming their co-accused attacked and fatally wounded Ms Easey, who was a friend of McHenry's.
The 29-year-old Central Coast woman's decomposing body - wrapped in a protective suit, a doona, plastic and finally a layer of duct tape - was found two weeks later in a creek near the M1 motorway at Killingworth.
Ms Easey had extensive scalp lacerations, skull depressions and stab wounds to her back, consistent the Crown says with being attacked with a hammer and a knife.
After the Crown closed its case on Friday, Dilosa went into the witness box saying he met McHenry in December 2017, saw her again in early 2018 and started a relationship after their third meeting.
He said McHenry had taken a liking to his dog Duke and wanted him, so he took the animal to her place at Narara to see if he got on with her dog and "I never left".
"It got pretty intense pretty quickly," he said.
"Very early on Carol expressed a lot of interest, within a month she wanted to get engaged."
He said he loved the kids in her household and they quickly became a family unit.
She told him of her mental health issues and took medication for identifiable bi-polar, but said she wanted to get off it.
He said they both used the drug ice, eating it, but had breaks sometimes hoping to make a better life.
They were together for about eight to 10 months.
Dilosa will continue his evidence on Monday before Justice Robertson Wright.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
