Jessica Wilson will claim self-defence in murder trial, court hears
A mother who stabbed her partner will make two claims in her murder trial, a court has been told.
A woman accused of murdering her partner by stabbing him in the back has been granted bail.
Jessica Wilson will leave prison on January 18 after a ruling from the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday.
The mother of one is awaiting trial over the killing of Marcus Adams from a single stab wound in a Port Fairy caravan park on September 20, 2019, and has been in prison for more than 16 months.
But she will be released into the community on Monday with conditions including that she report for monitoring, not consume alcohol or illegal drugs, and submit for breath or blood testing whenever asked.
Judge Paul Coghlan on Wednesday said there would be two issues at trial: if the stabbing was self-defence, and if Ms Wilson had intent to kill.
He said it was alleged that she had “stabbed her domestic partner in the back during the course of a domestic dispute and killed him”.
“(She) has made various and substantial claims of self-defence, but at the end of the day, a careful analysis of the sequence of the events will need to be carried out,” he said.
“Her allegation that the deceased was armed with a hammer are supported at least to the extent that a hammer was found in the caravan.”
But he said the prosecution case was “relatively strong”.
When granting bail, Justice Coghlan said it was “a very difficult case”.
“The competing aspects of it are very difficult, I must say,” he said.
“One would be very foolish to say she’s not a risk, it’s just the degree of risk I’ve got to work out.”
A Women’s Housing Limited worker told the court she had been working with Ms Wilson while she was in jail since October 2019.
She said she was “eager” to engage with support services.
She said their phone conversations were “extremely positive”, and Ms Wilson had now been sober for more than a year.
“She would like to engage with some mental health and some drug and alcohol relapse support,” she said.
Ms Wilson must report to the Supreme Court on February 2 for monitoring.