A daughter on trial for murder shed tears in court as a jury was shown graphic images of her mother's dead body, tied to a stepladder and with significant head injuries, in the backyard of the family's Dunlop home.
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Gabrielle Woutersz, 25, was charged after she allegedly fatally smashed her mother's skull with a hammer in October 2014.
It's alleged Woutersz, who had only recently returned from interstate, repeatedly struck her mother in the head with the weapon before she tried to bury her body in a garden bed.
Her father found Norma Cheryl Woutersz, 56, dead in the backyard when he arrived home from work.
Woutersz was arrested and pleaded not guilty to murder. The jury in her ACT Supreme Court trial has been told the killing is not in dispute.
The Crown has focused on the impact of Woutersz's extensive past use of drugs, including ice, on her mental state in the lead-up to the incident, while the defence argues she was mentally ill and should not be held morally responsible for the death.
Several jurors grew emotional on Tuesday as they were led through dozens of graphic crime scene photographs showing Mrs Woutersz's bloodied body on the ground in the home's backyard.
The photographs showed Mrs Woutersz's feet bound and tied to the stepladder, which had been placed next to an elevated planter box with some of the dirt removed.
Crime scene investigator Ro-Anna Trebilcock said items including a broken terracotta pot, cigarette butts, black gloves and some biological material were found in bins nearby.
Earlier, defence witness and treating psychiatrist Olav Nielssen gave evidence he'd diagnosed Woutersz with schizophrenia and noted her symptoms seemed to have begun when she started hearing voices at age 19.
"She's got a chronic and relapsing mental illness," he said.
Under cross-examination from prosecutor Shane Drumgold, Dr Nielssen said he had taken into account that Woutersz had likely downplayed her past drug use when he interviewed her.
However, he said while drug use would likely have worsened her condition, that would not have changed his diagnosis.
"A lot of people use drugs, not a lot of people get psychotic like that," he said.
"She's got a very acute psychotic episode and that's the state she was in when this offence occurred."
Under questioning from barrister Bernard Collaery, Dr Nielssen said Woutersz didn't know at the time what she was doing was wrong.
"She wasn't aware of it from her deluded standpoint."
The month-long trial continues before Chief Justice Helen Murrell on Wednesday.
