Rebecca Payne killed her husband Noel Payne at their Walpeup home with poisoned biscuits

A Victorian woman who killed her husband by poisoning a batch of biscuits was two months earlier planning to renew her wedding vows, a court has heard.

Rebecca Payne killed her husband Noel Payne with poisoned biscuits before stashing his body in a freezer. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A Victorian mum who killed her husband by poisoning a batch of cookies had two months earlier spoken of wanting to don her wedding dress and “renew her vows”, a court has heard.

Rebecca Payne, 43, has pleaded not guilty to the murder – but guilty to the manslaughter – of Noel Payne, 68, at their Walpeup home in the state’s northwest on September 1, 2020.

The woman, who is facing trial in the Supreme Court, crushed up several sleeping pills she had been prescribed before lacing the icing of the biscuits and possibly a cup of coffee with the drug.

She then served them both to her husband of nearly 15 years.

Soon after, she wrapped his “incapacitated” body up in a blue blanket and stuffed it in an empty chest freezer – roughly the size of a dishwasher – they had in their backyard.

But defence lawyer Richard Edney has argued his client did not murder her husband, telling the jury “she did not have an intention to kill”.

The court had previously heard Mr Payne was “violent” towards his wife, as well as another woman he had moved into the house, who he was pursuing a sexual relationship with.

Nurse practitioner Janice Winkler on Wednesday told the court she treated Payne at a medical centre in nearby Ouyen during 2020.

On July 15, during an appointment, the woman told Ms Winkler she “wanted to lose weight”.

“She was wanting to get into her wedding dress because she was going to renew her vows in November,” Ms Winkler said.

“That’s what she told me during that consultation.”

Payne had been prescribed with temazepam to treat her insomnia.

On August 21, she returned for another appointment and Ms Winkler, suspecting she may be a victim of domestic violence, asked her if “everything was all right”.

“She was crying, saying that Noel had joined a dating website and she was getting the emails on her phone,” Ms Winkler said.

“She was sitting there … crying … as you would expect from a woman whose husband’s joined a dating site.”

Ms Winkler had on two occasions prescribed the woman with temazepam, the drug found to have been digested by Mr Payne, after she said she was struggling to sleep.

The jury on Wednesday also heard from a friend of the accused’s 17-year-old son, who would spend time at the Payne household on the weekends.

The teenager said everyone “walked on eggshells” when Mr Payne was around because it felt like “he would yell at any moment”.

“(Rebecca) said maybe if he wasn’t around she would be a lot happier,” the teenager said.

“She would jokingly say that she would kill him one day.”

The jury was then shown a text message sent by Payne to the teenager, who loved to bake, asking her for a favour.

“Hey can you give me the recipe for them lemon biscuits with icing in the middle we had at your place last week,” Payne wrote.

After the teenager sent the recipe through, Payne baked a batch on August 30 and sent another text message saying: “I made caramel (sic), lemon and chocolate flake (biscuits) and Milo too.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the jury was also shown footage of the home – located in a tiny town with a population of 170 – and the neighbouring property.

The freezer had been shifted with a trolley to the backyard of a neighbour, after Payne told them it was “full of rotten meat” and she wanted to keep it away from her dogs.

The forensic footage showed the freezer sitting among rubbish, including old tyres.

The trial before Justice Rita Incerti continues.