Canberra woman pleads guilty to manslaughter over mother's death in Dunlop

Gabrielle Woutersz, 26, was arrested after Norma Cheryl Woutersz, 56, was found dead in her backyard in October 2014.

Police said Woutersz repeatedly hit her mother's head with a claw hammer before she dragged the woman's body outside and tried to bury it in a planter box she emptied of dirt.

Woutersz' father called police after he arrived home to find his dead wife tied to a stepladder by her ankles in the backyard and his daughter cooking eggs inside the house.

She was charged with murder but pleaded not guilty.

A jury last year failed to reach a verdict and was discharged after a month-long trial and almost three weeks of deliberations in the ACT Supreme Court.

Much of the trial revolved around Woutersz' mental health at the time of the killing and the years leading up to the attack.

The jury could have returned one of three possible verdicts: guilty of murder, not guilty of murder, or not guilty by reason of mental impairment.

Woutersz had been set to face a jury for the second time in front of Justice Hilary Penfold in late August.

But that hearing has been abandoned after her defence barrister, Ken Archer, instead entered a guilty plea to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility on her behalf on Thursday.

Woutersz, who remains in custody, was in court for the brief appearance.

Prosecutor Shane Drumgold told Justice Penfold there were still some matters for the judge to resolve, likely during a three-day hearing.

Those were mainly the extent of Woutersz' schizophrenia and how it manifested in the absence of drugs, and the extent of her drug use over the years and specifically in the lead up to her mother's death.

The court will also consider whether the case is returned to the original trial judge, Chief Justice Helen Murrell, for sentence proceedings.

At trial, it was not disputed Woutersz' actions led to her mother's death, or that she was in the grip of an acute psychotic episode at the time.

But prosecutors said her state of mind was fuelled by her long-term illicit drug habit, which included ice binges, while her lawyers argued she suffered schizophrenia and didn't know her actions were wrong.

The trial heard Woutersz experienced acute psychotic symptoms, including hearing voices, at the time of the killing, and sought mental health help in the ACT when she returned from interstate a few days earlier.

The case is expected to return to court later this year.

Mrs Woutersz was well-known in ACT childcare circles. She worked as a carer of children for decades, and had set up the Montessori childcare centre in Gordon.

Her husband, Keith Woutersz, described her around the time of her death as a generous-hearted woman, who treated the children she cared for as her own.

Mr Woutersz said she had been a "loving, caring, dedicated wife" and would be sorely missed.