Woman shot after sex row: court told
A Wanneroo man accused of murdering his partner lost his temper and shot her in the head before telling police she had committed suicide, a jury has been told.
Robert Jeffrey Anderson is on trial in the Supreme Court over the murder of his partner of about nine years, Phaea Leanne Lightfoot, in August 2012.
Mr Anderson told emergency services Ms Lightfoot, who was a regular drug user, had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the bedroom of their home.
He now admits shooting Ms Lightfoot but claims he was trying to fire a warning shot into an open door when she walked into his line of fire.
In his opening address, prosecutor Nicholas Cogin said Mr Anderson intended to kill Ms Lightfoot when he pulled the trigger.
He said Ms Lightfoot had anger management problems and was a highly sexualised female who would get angry if she did not have enough sex.
He said this became a source of conflict in their relationship as Mr Anderson got older.
Mr Cogin told the court it was no secret the early stages of their union involved a "servant-slave" relationship.
"Things started to go wrong, it appears, in 2006," he said.
"The evidence would suggest that Phaea Lightfoot was not an easy person to live with."
The jury will hear evidence from police officers and family members over the next week.
A recording of the 000 call made by Mr Anderson after Ms Lightfoot died was played to the court this afternoon.
During the call he said he had his partner's name tattooed on his chest.
"My gunsafe keys have been missing for weeks," he told the operator.
Defence lawyer Gary Massey told the court his client was arguing with his partner about sex before she died.
He said she had thrown a ceramic cat at him and was abusing him when he picked up the gun.
"He accepts that what he told police was a lie," Mr Massey said.
Mr Cogin said Mr Anderson was an experienced shotgun shooter with an impeccable target shooting record.
"She had annoyed him one too many times," he said.
"The state says he was not justified at all."
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