Natasha Darcy tried to ‘charm the police’ in interview 12 hours after partner’s death, jury told

A woman accused of murdering her boyfriend after spiking his Nutribullet smoothie with sedatives giggled to police, a court heard.

Natasha Darcy was trying to “charm the police” by laughing and giggling in an interview with detectives just 12 hours after her partner Mathew Dunbar died, a jury has been told.

The murder trial of Ms Darcy, 46, resumed on Friday after not sitting for a week in the NSW Supreme Court, where Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield continued his closing address.

He told jurors Ms Darcy had a “callous” attitude towards Mr Dunbar, exhibited by a comment to police officers that the 42-year-old sheep farmer was having “one of his poofter hissy fits” after he threatened suicide.

Mr Hatfield alleged the Walcha woman had told police a litany of lies, telling the jury: “Every detail becomes more implausible.”

Walcha sheep farmer Mathew Dunbar died at his Pandora property in the early hours of August 2, 2017. Picture: Facebook.

The Crown alleges Ms Darcy drugged Mr Dunbar with a sedative cocktail blended in a Nutribullet before gassing him to death in his bed in the early hours of August 2, 2017.

Prosecutors say she murdered him after extensive online research in a bid to inherit his $3.5 million property Pandora, of which she was the sole beneficiary.

Ms Darcy has pleaded not guilty to murder and says she assisted Mr Dunbar’s suicide.

Mr Hatfield told jurors they might remember Ms Darcy’s first interview because she was “giggling and laughing” with detectives “less than 12 hours after the man she claimed she loved was dead”.

He reminded them of comments Ms Darcy made about Mr Dunbar loving grocery shopping and being a great bargain hunter.

“It must be the gay in him,” she says in the interview played to the jury earlier in the trial.

“You might think that shows how completely shallow emotionally the accused is, completely lacking in any empathy,” Mr Hatfield said.

“Her partner just died less than 12 hours before and she’s talking about him in those terms.”

Natasha Darcy was “giggling and laughing” in a police interview hours after Mr Dunbar died, a jury has heard. Picture: Facebook

She didn’t “seem to be upset at all” in a conversation with the officers about her coffee machine, he said.

“You can give it a whirl if youse like. Press a button and a cappuccino comes out”, Mr Hatfield said, quoting Ms Darcy in the interview.

He pointed out several alleged lies she told police, including that she had discovered Mr Dunbar’s body after accidentally setting off the smoke alarm in the middle of the night.

Ms Darcy’s story — that she had been sleeping on the couch, woken up, set off the alarm while putting wood on the fire, stopped the alarm, and went to tell Mr Dunbar what she’d done — did not make any sense, he said.

“You wouldn’t go and wake them up to tell them you were worried that you’d woken them up,” he said.

She also lied about not knowing what the helium gas was for, he told the jury, saying to officers “Mat mentioned something about getting something for welding, I assume that’s what it’s for.”

“That’s a stark lie told to distance herself from being the one who ordered the murder weapon,” Mr Hatfield said.

In another instance, Mr Hatfield said, Ms Darcy had insisted Mr Dunbar had made a particular search on her phone, but she was captured on CCTV holding her own phone at the time the search was made.

“Her phone was white, you can see the footage for yourself,” he said.

In her opening address Ms Darcy’s barrister Janet Manuell SC urged the jury to keep an open mind and told them there may have been good reasons Ms Darcy lied to police that did not necessarily point to her guilt.

A suicide expert who testified for the defence told the jury he believed Mr Dunbar had depression.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Natasha Darcy tried to ‘charm the police’ in interview 12 hours after partner’s death, jury told