A mother of three has been found guilty of killing her landlord after he tried to stop her retrieving a red polo shirt her son needed for school the next day.
Kristy Robb, 27, had separated from her partner of 12 years and was looking for a place to stay when she saw a newspaper advertisement for a Noble Park bungalow for rent.
Ms Robb stayed at the bungalow for a couple of nights but decided not to move in as she didn't feel comfortable there.
Landlord Alan Matthews, 69, however claimed she still owed a month's rent and refused to give back her belongings until she paid the money.
The Crown case was that Ms Robb and her boyfriend, Gino Rachele, 42, went to the bungalow just before 3am on January 30 last year after her son asked for his red polo shirt to wear on the first day back at school after the holidays.
Crown prosecutor Peter Rose, SC, said there was a confrontation between Mr Matthews and Ms Robb at one point and she hit him with a blunt object.
"Mr Matthews was assaulted by Ms Robb who was angry with him, frustrated, wanted her kids' clothes and wanted her stuff and she took out that frustration and anger on him in this attack in the early hours of the morning, hitting him with a weapon, causing lacerations to his head, pain and blood loss, causing a fracture to his sternum," Mr Rose told the jury.
"After this assault Ms Robb eventually flees the scene with Mr Rachele, leaving Mr Matthews bleeding, injured and in pain.
"He (Mr Matthews) then goes to the street to see if he can see them and then returns to his house to call 000 to report what has happened. Within 30 or 40 minutes of this assault, he's dead in his bathroom."
Mr Rose said it was highly likely the assault had triggered Mr Matthews' heart attack.
A Supreme Court jury on Friday found Ms Robb guilty of manslaughter and she will be sentenced at a later date.
Rachele had earlier pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury and false imprisonment and was sentenced to a one-year community correction order.
During the trial, defence barrister Con Mylonas said Ms Robb's son had been hassling her to try and retrieve his red polo shirt for school the next day.
"A decision is made (at 2.30am) to go and try and retrieve this red polo shirt, along possibly with anything else they (Ms Robb and Mr Rachele) can retrieve," Mr Mylonas said. "It's my submission to you that there's nothing wrong with this. It was her stuff."
Mr Mylonas said that when Mr Matthews later rang triple 0, he told the operator, "They bashed me" not just Ms Robb.
"The only person who has shown any volatility and anger in this sorry saga was the deceased man. We know he had been verbally abusive and demeaning to Kristy Robb in the lead up. He was going berserk at Mr Rachele after being tackled to the ground. You know, perhaps legitimately but he was angry. Mr Rachele says it was chaos."