Defence barrister Scott Fraser told a Wollongong jury that witnesses speaking against accused David William Bagster were not to be blindly believed.
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David William Bagster is facing a charge of manslaughter over the 2011 death of Woonona woman Valmai Jane Birch, whose body was found tied up and dumped in a wheelie bin, left in the bathroom of her Woods Avenue unit.
After the Crown prosecutor on Thursday pointed to the number of witnesses who said they had seen or heard Bagster assault Ms Birch, Mr Fraser urged the jury to question the account of the witnesses.
"When you scratch that surface, the whole thing just smells," Defence barrister Scott Fraser put to the jury in his closing arguments on Friday.
"Many of the witnesses in this trial, you would have grave reservations about the reliability and the accuracy of the evidence they had given," he said.
"You received a snapshot into the world of those who abuse drugs."
"Some of them [the witnesses] had it in for him [Bagster], and were prepared to lie."
He urged the jury to put emotion and prejudice to one side, and focus on what the evidence has proved, or failed to prove.
Mr Fraser also pointed to the fact that doctors who gave evidence said that a heroin overdose was a possible cause of death, but they could not say for sure.
"If you were to conclude that it was reasonably possible that she died of an overdose if she was already deceased because of an overdose - he [Bagster] would be not guilty of the charge before the court," Mr Fraser said.
On Thursday, the Crown emphasised witness accounts that pointed to Bagster's alleged history of violence towards Ms Birch, and others who said that Ms Birch had complained to them about Bagster beating her or tying her up.
The Crown pointed to evidence of neighbours who said they had seen movement in and around Ms Birch's home about the same time a foul smell began to emanate from the unit.
The prosecutor argued that Bagster was seen around the unit around that time.
His fingerprints were found under the rim of the bin Ms Birch's body was found in, as well as on the switch of a ceiling fan the Crown says was switched on to alleviate the smell.
The Crown's case relies on the evidence of witnesses, Defence Barrister Mr Fraser said on Friday, but the jury would never hear the account that matters the most.
"One of those could never be tested: the witness of Ms Birch herself," he said.
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Rosie Bensley
Illawarra Mercury trainee journalist and newest recruit.
Illawarra Mercury trainee journalist and newest recruit.
