A MILDURA man (not pictured) accused of murder smoked marijuana and had sex with his defacto partner within hours of killing the woman's two-year-old daughter, a court has been told.
Murder trial begins in Mildura
Nick Coslovich, the father of Nikki Francis-Coslovich, outside Mildura Magistrates' Court today for the trial of John Torney, who is accused of murdering the toddler.
John Torney is accused of repeatedly bashing Nikki Francis-Coslovich at an Oram Court address in August last year while the girl's mother went shopping and ran errands.
Prosecutor Gavin Silbert QC told the Supreme Court sitting in Mildura the deceased girl was "battered to death" from repeated blunt force trauma to her chest and stomach.
Defence Barrister Julie Condon said Ms Francis had spun "big, bad lies" and had a window of opportunity to have killed her daughter.
"This is really what happened," she said. "Peta killed her."
Ms Condon said while it may seem that a mother killing her daughter ran against the "laws of nature", that would not be their attitude by the end of the trial.
The murder trial is expected to last up to four weeks.
Full story in tomorrow's Sunraysia Daily.