A woman accused of murdering her long-term partner called triple-0 after fatally hitting him with a stool, and was recorded saying "I hope you die" during the call, a court has heard.
Gayle Dunlop, 60, appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday for the first day of her trial.
Ms Dunlop was in an on-and-off relationship with the dead man, John Reed, 63, for about 25 years and the pair had a long history of violence, the court heard.
Police had been called to their Seaford unit a number of times before Mr Reed died on July 20, 2015.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers said in her opening address that Ms Dunlop had struck Mr Reed in the back of the head with a wooden stool at least once on July 18, 2015, and once more when he was on or near the floor.
She said Ms Dunlop later called triple-0, telling the operator that her partner had fallen and asking for an ambulance. She said that she she had found him on the floor, bleeding, the court heard.
During the call, Ms Rogers said that Ms Dunlop put the phone on the ground and was recorded saying: "I was in bed, I don't know where you fell. I hope you die."
"You went to the shops ... I found you in this condition. It doesn't feel good does it, what you did to me."
When paramedics arrived shortly before 9.30pm, Ms Dunlop had a similar story, telling them that she thought Mr Reed had been out shopping. She did not know where or how he had fallen.
Ms Rogers said Ms Dunlop later reiterated to police that she had gone to bed and woken to find Mr Reed on the ground.
He was taken to hospital and died two days after the attack, the court heard.
Defence counsel Shane Gardner said that both sides agreed his client had killed Mr Reed with the stool.
But he said it was the prosecution's duty to prove to the jury that Ms Dunlop had not killed him in self-defence.
Ms Rogers said that Ms Dunlop had spoken to her sister Rhonda on the phone after the attack.
She told her that the ambulance and police had been at her house, and said: "You don't know what I've gone through ... I can't do anything without him being there. I just can't take it anymore."
Mr Reed died from his injuries days later.
When the couple's daughter, Mika Dunlop, told her mother the news in prison, Ms Rogers said the accused broke down and said "I'm so sorry" then whispered that she loved him and never meant for anything to happen.
Mika remembered her parents' arguments, usually after excessive drinking, as a young child, which at times became physical, the court heard.
A former neighbour at the Seaford unit also recalled that both were heavy drinkers.
The prosecutor also said the neighbour heard them screaming and swearing and had seen bruises on Ms Dunlop every couple of months.
When she asked her how she had got them, Ms Dunlop would say "That's my business," the court heard.
The first witness, Constable Rebecca Hough, said she had been called to the couple's apartment a year earlier, and arrived to find Mr Reed gone.
She said Ms Dunlop told her they had had an argument and only called the police because she wanted help with her relationship.
Under cross-examination the constable conceded Ms Dunlop may have been hiding things from police, and that she had told them she moved from Western Australia to Victoria to "put space between them" because their relationship had "escalated".
The trial, before Justice Lex Lasry, continues.