The mother of accused killer Aleksander Vojneski says the victim had feared a stalker from her past shortly before her death.
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But Julia Vojneski never mentioned the mystery man in the aftermath of Paula Conlon’s stabbing murder.
Ms Vojneski told the ACT Supreme Court on Monday that Ms Conlon, 30, had asked to meet her to discuss her fears about a man from her past, who drove a dark sports car, who had begun to harass her.
But Ms Conlon was murdered just days before she could reveal any further information, Ms Vojneski claims.
Aleksander Vojneski, 31, is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court for the stabbing murder of Ms Conlon, his girlfriend, in her Macgregor home in March 2012.
Ms Conlon, a mother of three, was found dead with 11 stab wounds on March 28.
The Crown alleges the accused had a history of violence using knives and murdered Ms Conlon at the northside home, whom he’d met at a psychiatric unit in October 2011, after drinking and becoming frustrated by a string of unsuccessful attempts to get drugs.
His mother entered the witness stand on Monday as the murder trial entered its second week.
Ms Vojneski broke down in tears a number of times as she recounted her relationship with Ms Conlon, whom she said she loved like her own child.
A number of people in the public gallery were also brought to tears, with one person leaving the court room.
Ms Vojneski said Ms Conlon had been forced to stop the accused fighting the stalker for fear he would be injured.
Ms Vojneski told the court she had not told the authorities about the stalker during a police interview two days after the murder because she had not remembered until later.
When prosecutor Shane Drumgold put her to that she had made up the stalker in an attempt to help her son beat the murder charge, she replied: “I guarantee with my life”.
Ms Vojneski also told the court she would give her son up to $400 a week to buy drugs and had handed him about $40 only hours before the murder.
She said the accused would get upset and become erratic, including yelling and throwing furniture, when he could not get drugs.
The mother said she began handing over the cash because she could not get help from mental health and rehabilitation services.
“I always gave him money, regardless of what he used it for,” Ms Vojneski said.
“[I had to] because I had no other help. It was better to do that.”
The trial before Justice John Burns continues on Tuesday.
