Man faces first day of trial charged with murder of his wife

A man who beat his wife to death with a brick has faced the first day of his trial in the Supreme Court.

A man who beat his wife to death with a brick has faced the first day of his trial in the Supreme Court

A TENNANT Creek man who beat his wife to death with a brick has faced the first day of his trial in the Supreme Court.

Baden Flash, who was 34 at the time of the offending, pleaded not guilty in Alice Springs Supreme Court on Wednesday to murder after he killed his wife Kwementyaye Foster more than three years ago.

The court heard Flash slammed a brick against the side of the victim’s head multiple times in the bedroom of their Tennant Creek home in January 2017.

Crown prosecutor Stephen Robson told the jury it was a “prolonged and severe bashing of his partner of many years” who sustained injuries of varying kinds and degrees in more than 30 locations on her body, including broken ribs and a brain haemorrhage.

The court heard the pair had been arguing in the house the evening before her death, and the victim was in the bedroom “dying” until the following evening when she was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.

The court heard when asked by police why, Flash replied he was “drunk and couldn’t remember”.

Mr Robson said the crown accepted what the accused told the police about hitting (the victim) to the head with the brick as a true admission, “but in other respects on the crown case the accused was attempting to minimise his culpability of what occurred in the bedroom and wasn’t giving a completely truthful or accurate account”.

MORE CENTRALIAN NEWS

Alice Springs’ iconic Lasseters Hotel Casino sold off to Sydney developer

Cold blast shocks Red Centre residents in warmer-than-average month

What you need to know about the ANZAC Day changes in Alice Springs

The crown said the pair had a “dysfunctional relationship marked by arguments and violence”.

“The crown has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that despite his level of intoxication as you find it, whether his level of intoxication was a little or a lot, or whether he was not intoxicated at all, it’s the crown that has to prove the elements of his offence which is he intended to kill or cause serious harm regardless of his level of intoxication,” Mr Robson said.

Defence lawyer Tania Collins told the jury the defence submitted evidence put before them would support a verdict of manslaughter, rather than murder.

“The principle issue for you to consider is what was the state of mind of Mr Baden Flash when he inflicted the fatal injuries on his wife,” Ms Collins said.

“You must consider all the factors that may have impacted his state of mind at the time. Intoxication of one of those issues, the context of the relationship between him and his wife is another one of those issues.

“You must ask yourselves … firstly, did Mr Flash have the capacity to form the relevant intention, or if you are satisfied that he did have the capacity to form such an intention, have (the crown) proven beyond reasonable doubt that he had that intent to cause serious harm or to kill his wife.”

Follow @jasmineaburke