The prosecution and defence have made their closing statements in the trial into Kim Richmond's death at the High Court in Hamilton.
Ms Richmond's body was found in a ute pulled from Lake Arapuni in southern Waikato last year, 11 months after she disappeared.
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Her partner Cory Jefferies has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
Crown prosecutor Ross Douch told the jury there was clear murderous intent, while defence lawyer Thomas Sutcliffe said Cory Jefferies acted out of desperation.
Mr Douch argued the fabricated story Jefferies told police and his family in the months after her death proves a level of self-preservation to the highest extent.
"He allows his daughter to get on the phone and text a dead person. Her mother. That's what he was driven to by what he'd done," he said.
"Does that sound like a reaction from somebody who had been involved in an incident where the completely unexpected happened? Or is it the reaction of someone who was involved in an incident where the outcome was within contemplation?"
Mr Douch suggested to the jury that if the death was unintentional, Jefferies would have called for help.
He argued Jefferies' behaviour was not consistent with manslaughter, alleging that instead of helping Ms Richmond, he worked quickly to get rid of the evidence.
"Dumped in the back of a vehicle, with her clothes askew, and taken to the river, where as I said earlier, the regrettable outcome, is where he leaves her to rot," he said.
He also pointed to the threats the couple's neighbour Alfons Te Brake told the court Jefferies made against Ms Richmond.
The court heard on Tuesday that Ms Richmond had entered into an intimate relationship with Mr Te Brake.
Mr Douch said it's clear these were not shallow threats.
Defence lawyer Mr Sutcliffe argued Jefferies' behaviour after the death of Ms Richmond was guilty behaviour, but guilty of manslaughter.
"His life as he knew it, and the lives of his children, completely shattered. Everything changes, regardless of what the intent was," he said.
He said there is no evidence Jefferies did not try to help Ms Richmond that night.
"What you know as a fact is that he's driven some 12km down the road, he's put the car with Kim in it, into the lake and at something like 4 in the morning he's then trudged his way back on a very wet night," he said.
"That doesn't speak of particularly good planning, it speaks of a desperate reaction."
Mr Sutcliffe said Ms Richmond's own calm reaction to the threats proves no one considered Jefferies' comments as a statement of intent.
Judge Sally Fitzgerald will sum up on Friday morning.
Newshub.
