A former soldier accused of murdering his wife on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula has been ordered to stand trial after losing a bid to have the case against him thrown out.
Antony Ogar, 59, is charged with murdering his 37-year-old wife, Cherry Gerente Ogar, at their Port Hughes house last year.
Ms Ogar died from blunt-force head injuries.
Mr Ogar asked the Adelaide Magistrates Court to throw out the charge against him, with his lawyer telling the court the prosecution case was "boxing at shadows".
But Magistrate Michelle Sutcliffe found there were "substantive matters" and a case to answer, ordering him to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
Mr Ogar has now pleaded not guilty to Ms Ogar's murder.
Magistrate Sutcliffe suppressed most of the arguments made during the no-case-to-answer hearing on the grounds it would prejudice Mr Ogar's right to a fair trial.
But ABC News can reveal Mr Ogar's lawyer Martin Anders told the court during that hearing it was not "possible pathologically to determine the exact originating event of injury".
"This is not a case where a weapon has been used, where a gun has been discharged or a knife has been applied," Mr Anders told the court.
"It is not pointing towards a deliberate infliction of injury, quite the reverse.
"It's leaving wide open the possibility of accidental injury."
Mr Anders said the prosecution case was relying on "less qualified" medical witnesses, including nurses and ambulance officers, and asked the court to find their evidence "inadmissible".
But prosecutor Darren Evans told the court there would still be a case to answer even if all the "medical evidence" was struck out.
Mr Evans told the court there were no injuries to the back of Ms Ogar's head to suggest she had fallen backwards.
"Here we have two people and only two people in a house," he said.
"One is perfectly fine and the other has a catastrophic brain injury.
"Those circumstances alone provide a case to answer.
"It would be open to infer that the defendant, the only other person in that house, caused that injury with the requisite intent and that injury led to the death."
Empty alcohol bottles found at scene, court told
Mr Evans also told the court there was no evidence Ms Ogar was intoxicated, but Mr Anders said it was not possible to rule out that she was drunk at the time of her death.
"If someone's had five glasses of wine the night before, as per the applicant's narrative as conveyed to the ambulance officers, what's it mean that there was no alcohol evident in blood taken just before midday the following day," Mr Anders told the court.
"There are many empty bottles of alcohol in that house.
"All the surrounding evidence suggests that the deceased enjoyed a drink."
The matter returns to court on Friday, when Mr Ogar is expected to apply for a variation to his bail conditions.
Mr Ogar – who the court has previously heard was a "decorated member of the Australian Defence Force" – is allowed to attend a hardware store weekly to continue building a house as part of his bail agreement, as well as a church service on Sundays.
Under his bail conditions, Mr Ogar has also been banned from having any contact with Ms Ogar's daughter.
