A WOMAN who was a drug associate of a man accused of a double murder has told the Supreme Court that she did not believe the accused when he told her that he had killed a woman.
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Sally Anne Maher, also known by the surname of McGuire, told jurors during evidence-in-chief today that on the night of August 15, 2012, she was hosting a gathering at her unit on the Brooker Highway, near the Hobart Showground.
The Crown witness said that a number of people were at her unit and Marco Daniel Rusterholz, who was her boyfriend at the time, arrived about midnight.
Ms Maher said that Mr Rusterholz told her that he had killed "Ange".
"I laughed, because I did not believe it," she said.
Ms Maher said she thought at the time that Mr Rusterholz was "big-noting" himself as people in the drug trade often did, to impress others.
"I did not believe that he had harmed her in any way," she said.
The third week of the Launceston trial of Mr Rusterholz, 51, started today.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Angela Maree Hallam, 31, and Joshua Eric Newman, 21, a couple whose stabbed, burnt remains were found in a unit fire in Pioneer Parade, Ravenswood, on August 15, 2012.
