Phillip Bracken, who is on trial in the Supreme Court accused of murdering his de facto wife Helen Curtis, was "meek and compliant" when he was with her, a witness has said.
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Ms Curtis' close friend, Susan Finlow, told the court: "Phillip was very doting, and would always help and do whatever he could to please Helen."
Mr Bracken, 45, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Curtis, 59, his de facto wife of four years, on Monday afternoon, November 19, 2012.
He says he killed Ms Curtis in self-defence after having been abused, controlled, threatened and intimidated by her.
Crown prosecutor Peter Rose, SC, told the jury Mr Bracken had taken a rifle from Ms Curtis' car and shot her five times in the middle of Clive Street because he was angry at the way she had abused and threatened his father.
Questioned by defence barrister Ruth Shann, Ms Finlow said Ms Curtis had been angry and aggressive towards Mr Bracken.
Ms Finlow said there were times when Ms Curtis would call her in a rage and once told her, "I need you to come here; I'm going to kill him."
Ms Finlow remembered one occasion when she walked into the couple's house to find Ms Curtis attacking Mr Bracken in the kitchen.
"She (Helen) was in a rage and she was running towards him.
"He was on the ground when I walked in, but he was picking up glass and stuff from the floor, trying to clean up."
Ms Finlow said Ms Curtis was kicking Mr Bracken, screaming and yelling abuse. Mr Bracken had had blood coming from his ear.
"Her whole demeanour was escalated," Ms Finlow said. "She was crazy, in a rage, so I was trying to console her, calm her down to get her clothes changed because she did have blood on her, get her cleaned up to get her out of the house."
Ms Finlow said she tried to get Ms Curtis away from Mr Bracken but she kept going back and kicking and yelling at him.
She said at one stage Mr Bracken was crouched on the floor trying to protect himself. He had not said anything back to Ms Curtis or try to fight back.
Ms Finlow said Ms Curtis was a beautiful lady who was always nice to her but her mood could change quickly from being calm to angry and volatile.
"She would say things (to Mr Bracken) like, 'You're a f---ing dog', you know, treat him like shit.
"She abused the f--- out of him. That's it. That's what she did.
"I don't know why but she treated him like inhumane in ways and I don't like to say it but it's the truth."
Ms Finlow said Ms Curtis, who had bipolar disorder, would order Mr Bracken around and if she gave him a direction to do something, "he would do it straight away".
The trial, before Justice Chris Maxwell, continues.
