A woman who was once in a relationship with murder accused Venod Skantha has given evidence he threatened to kill people with his machete.
The Dunedin doctor is on trial accused of stabbing 16-year-old Amber-Rose Rush to death in her bed in February last year.
Tracey Severins, who met Skantha on Tinder in 2017, told the Dunedin High Court on Thursday he would pull his machete out of its cover and show it off.
She gave evidence Skantha pushed her into a wall while intoxicated, telling the court that in late 2017 he had to be pulled off her.
He then told a friend to get his machete so he could slit her throat, she said.
"He wanted to kill people," she told the court.
"As her drunk more and took more drugs, he became different. He was an arsehole."
Rush was found dead in her bed on February 18 last year. The defence case for Skantha, a 32-year-old doctor, is that she was killed by an intruder, who was not Skantha. He has denied all charges against him.
The trial continues.
