The man accused of killing Woonona woman Valmai Jane Birch smiled when he informed her friend of her death, a Wollongong court has heard.
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David Bagster has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Birch, whose partially hog-tied body was discovered in a wheelie bin in her unit in March 2011.
Leonie Andy told the Wollongong District Court that six days before Ms Birch's funeral, Bagster came to her home and asked her if she had heard about Ms Birch, who had been found dead in a wheelie bin.
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The jury heard that Bagster did not seem upset and he was smiling, and told Ms Andy he had a new girlfriend.
Ms Andy also gave evidence that she had often seen Ms Birch with bruising to her face and body when she and Bagster would come to her home to buy cannabis.
She said Ms Birch once told her, "I woke up the other day and I was hog-tied... He tied me up while I was sleeping", and she was left like that for five hours.
Other witnesses called to give evidence on Wednesday also told the court that they saw Ms Birch bruised.
Another friend of Ms Birch, Leon Boeyen, said he once saw her in the Crown Street Mall with her whole face swollen and she told him, "Dave beat me" and had tied her up and gagged her for four hours.
During cross-examination, the court heard Mr Boeyen had told police in 2011 that Ms Birch, who had been a sex worker, had spoken about having violent clients.
Joanne Nagy, a friend who had known Ms Birch for about 15 years, gave evidence that she told Ms Birch to stay away from Bagster after learning she was in a relationship with him.
The court heard that she saw Ms Birch with black eyes in 2010 and again a few days later with Bagster, her face swollen and her eyes still black.
Ms Nagy said Ms Birch told her Bagster had caused the injuries after she returned pills he had stolen from a man named Khaled Khaled.
Witness Tracey Haines gave evidence to the court that she saw Ms Birch in Wollongong with black eyes and she told her, "Look what Dave's done".
The court also heard Ms Birch had had an argument with Mr Khaled in March 2011 after he asked her for $700.
Ms Birch's upstairs neighbour at the time of her death, Patrick Sagigi, told the court that not long after she moved in he heard her and Bagster fighting regularly, calling each other names.
Mr Sagigi said on one occasion he heard people knocking at the downstairs unit and heard a man say, "This c--t is f--king dead, he owes me".
The court heard that in February 2011 Mr Sagigi saw Ms Birch with a bruised face and as she showed him bruising on her leg, she said, "Look what the f--kwit did to me".
Ms Birch did not say who she was referring to, the jury heard, but Mr Sagigi assumed it was Bagster because of their arguments.
Mr Sagigi also gave evidence that about 11.30pm to midnight on March 12, 2011, he heard a short, loud scream as he was falling asleep that sent shivers down his spine.
On March 15 Mr Sagigi's partner at the time alerted him to a bad smell coming from the drain in his bathroom, the court heard, and the following day he noticed that Ms Birch had not put her bins out and her recycling bin was missing.
Four days later Mr Sagigi noticed the smell had gotten worse and he saw flies at the front window of Ms Birch's unit, and on March 21 he called police after talking to a friend about the odour.
The trial continues.
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