A woman charged with murdering her partner in a house fire in Bendigo has appeared in court but denied killing him.
Kate Stone, 39, appeared briefly in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, charged with murdering Darren Reid last month.
She was arrested and charged earlier on Wednesday.
Mr Reid, 45, suffered serious burns in a house fire in the Bendigo suburb of Long Gully on December 18. He died in hospital the following day.
Photo: Facebook
Ms Stone said something inaudible to two women sitting near the dock, and then in a discussion with her lawyer before she was taken back into custody, said loudly: "I never murdered my husband."
She was then taken into custody and ordered to return to court on May 24.
One of the women raised concerns about Ms Stone's safety in custody with the lawyer. The women refused to comment outside court.
The Long Gully house where a man suffered life-threatening injuries in a suspicious fire overnight pic.twitter.com/Fm9JEgRO0N
— Natalie Croxon (@natcroxon) December 18, 2016
At the time of the fire, which caused just minor damage to the rear of the home, it was reported that a woman and two children were at home.
And on December 27, Bendigo Police issued a missing person's alert to find four Auditori children aged 16, 11, 9 and 8.
Darren Reid was also known as Darren Auditori Reid.
Police said they believed the Auditori children were with family members in the Warragul or Drouin areas.
Investigators are yet to confirm if the children have been found, although the police media alert has been deleted.
Police have confirmed Ms Stone was living in the house where the fire occurred.
Facebook image of Kate Stone with her deceased partner and alleged victim Darren Reid
In an interview with News Corp last Wednesday, Ms Stone said her partner died whilst shielding her from three men who invaded their home making threats to kill and sexually assault the family.
"He put himself on fire basically by standing in front of me so they couldn't set me alight. It was meant to go for me. He saved my life," Ms Stone is reported to have said.
She paid tribute to her deceased partner, saying "he was a good man - worked all of his life, looked after his kids."