Two people charged with murdering Bendigo mother-of-four Samantha Kelly allegedly asked another woman to kill Ms Kelly on three occasions before carrying out the murder themselves.
A court also heard the couple accused of the murder offered to pay $1000 to a teenage ice addict to have a baby for them, the Bendigo Advertiser reports.
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Bendigo Mum Samantha Kelly found dead
Detectives have found the remains of missing Mum Samantha Kelly about 30km south west of Bendigo. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.
Christine Lyons, 45, and her husband, 44-year-old Ronald Lyons, appeared at the first day of a committal hearing in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Monday, charged with the murder of Ms Kelly.
Their co-accused, Peter Arthur, has already pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Kelly with a hammer in the Kangaroo Flat home he shared with her, Mr Lyons and Ms Lyons, on or around January 20.
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Ms Kelly lived in a bungalow at the rear of the property with her children.
Her body was later found buried in a tarpaulin in bushland near Shelbourne, about 20 kilometres from the house, on February 12.
One witness, Andrew Binks, told the court Ms Lyons and Arthur asked his housemate Shiralee Lyons to murder Ms Kelly on three separate occasions.
Mr Binks said Shiralee Lyons told him on February 2 about the conversations, while they were discussing the disappearance of Ms Kelly.
He did not hear the conversation himself.
"Shiralee told me, in her words, that the first two times she was asked she never took it seriously," Mr Binks said.
"The third time it was meant very seriously, that's when I told her to get in the car and go to the police straight away."
Ms Kelly had been missing since January 20, the last time she was known to have accessed her Facebook page.
Mr Binks said he and Shiralee Lyons went straight to police when he was told about the request to have Ms Kelly murdered.
He also told the court Ms Lyons said Ms Kelly was missing because she wanted a break from the house and he assumed she'd gone "walkabout".
In his statement to police on February 10, Mr Binks said "all hell broke loose" when others found out he reported on February 2 that Ms Kelly was missing.
He said Ms Lyons also told him another man, Mark Glare – the father of one of Ms Kelly's children – had arranged to have Ms Kelly murdered.
Mr Glare, of Ballarat, admitted to the court that his relationship with Ms Kelly had included instances of violence. On one occasion he grabbed her by the throat, the court heard.
Ms Kelly gave birth to their child in early 2015 but the pair were not in a relationship at the time of her death. Ms Kelly also had a child by Mr Glare's brother.
Mr Glare said Ms Kelly wanted to be in a relationship with him, but he refused.
In Mr Glare's statement to police, partially read to the court, he said he "threatened" Ms Kelly after she made an accusation against his son and threw a cup at his head.
"After I last saw Sammy, I was angry with Sammy because of what she said about [my son]," his statement read.
"I did not see Sammy again, but I did threaten her. I threatened her before I disconnected my number."
His threat was in the form of a text message which read: "Hahaha I will see you real soon".
Another witness told the court Christine Lyons attempted to pay a teenage friend $1000 and medical costs to get pregnant by Ronald Lyons, and to act as their surrogate.
The witness said her friend considered accepting the offer as she "needed the money" to fund her methamphetamine addiction.
"[She] was to have sexual intercourse with Ron for the baby," she said.
"Christine and Ron would pay medical expenses, and give [her] $1000 if she was to succeed in the pregnancy.
"All that [she] said was that Christine was really pushing her to have a baby, she wasn't sure what to do about it but she was needing the money ... I said not to do it."
A neighbour of the house where Ms Kelly had lived with the accused also provided evidence to the court, and said she did not suspect anything "untoward" was being planned.
Pauline Pettersen said she spent New Year's Eve in 2015 with her neighbours, and spoke with them briefly on other occasions.
"We were all having fun and laughing that night," she said.
Ms Pettersen did not report hearing anything unusual from next door, but saw Mr Arthur doing a major clean up of the backyard at one stage.
The court heard from four witnesses on Monday and will hear from co-accused Peter Arthur, 45, by video link later this week. A total of 29 witnesses will give evidence.
The hearing before Magistrate Michael King continues in Bendigo on Tuesday.