Valmai Jane Birch was described as "the last of the hippies" by a witness at a trial over her death.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Daniel William Bagster, 55, is on trial at Wollongong District Court charged with the manslaughter of Ms Birch in 2011.
Ms Birch's body was found in a bin in her Woonona home. She was 34 years old.
At the time of her death she was struggling with a heroin habit and employed as a sex worker in Port Kembla.
The court was told one witness offered Ms Birch rides to a methadone clinic and cash in exchange for sexual favours. The man was being treated for cancer at the time, and has since passed away.
Another witness, who said he was a friend of Ms Birch, described her as a "the last of the hippies, everyone's friend, she loved everyone".
The last time he recalled seeing her was on a Wollongong train.
"She was so smashed she could hardly stand up," he said. "I didn't want anything to do with it."
Several witnesses said it was not uncommon for Ms Birch to go missing for days at a time, ending up arrested or in hospital.
Read more:
- Trial begins for man accused of death of Woonona woman found in wheelie bin
- Accused told witness of unit stench
- Woonona woman allegedly beaten in year before death, jury hears
- Accused 'smiled' as he spoke of Woonona woman's death, court hears
- Live updates as trial into death of Woonona woman Valmai Jane Birch continues
One man, whose DNA was found in a cigarette in Ms Birch's unit, was adamant he had never been there and didn't know her, although he acknowledged that he recognised her face.
In a set of agreed facts the court heard police had seen Ms Birch and Bagster arguing loudly in public on January 8; Ms Birch told the sergeant her relationship with Bagster was over. The sergeant said she did not appear frightened.
Another friend of Ms Birch, Lorraine Punter, was adamant she heard Bagster say, "I'm going to kill you, you'll be dead by the end of the week", in the days leading up to Ms Birch's death.
"I know what I heard and I swore on God and that's all I have to say," Ms Punter told the court.
"She was very distressed."
She claimed the altercation occurred while Ms Birch and Bagster were in the toilets at Woonona train station, however, CCTV footage shows Ms Punter outside the station while Ms Birch and Bagster are in the toilets.
The CCTV footage also shows Ms Birch talking with her friends and playing with their small children, dressed in her favourite layered brown dress.
Thin and haggard, with long, dark hair and an animated manner, it's a heartbreaking fragment of Ms Birch's final days.
The trial is expected to end tomorrow.
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
