A murderer and his girlfriend sent numerous Facebook messages from their victim's account to avoid detection, a court has heard.
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Ian Rosewall, 47, initially pleaded not guilty to murdering Tyson Timothy Clark-Robertson and lied to police about the victim's whereabouts and whether he'd harmed him.
The Mayfield man sought a psychological assessment and, despite knowing privileged had been waived, the killer confessed to the crime and changed his plea to guilty in early March.
His girlfriend, 21-year-old Renae Donald, also pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact in the murder of Mr Clark-Robertson. The Mayfield woman pleaded guilty on March 12.
During sentencing submissions in the Launceston Supreme Court on Wednesday, Crown Prosecutor John Ransom said Donald lied to police even after Mr Clark-Robertson's body was discovered.
She told them she'd recently seen Mr Clark-Robertson at Scottsdale and denied accessing his Facebook account, the court heard.
In a second interview with the police a day later, Donald admitted to accessing her ex-boyfriend's Facebook account on "one or two occasions".
It was not inferred that Donald assisted with burying Mr Clark-Robertson's body in a shallow grave in the backyard of the house the trio lived at, but Mr Ransom said she was aware of the murder and entered a "joint and sophisticated strategy" with Rosewall to avoid being caught.
The court heard messages sent to the victim's father, Timothy, said Donald and Mr Clark-Robertson were getting married, Donald was pregnant with twins and asked for money on a number of occasions.
In his victim impact statement, Timothy said the messages were manipulative and tortured him.
He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after his son's murder and now also suffers from panic attacks, anxiety and depression.
Donald and Mr Clark-Robertson were in a relationship for about 14 months before breaking up, with Donald and Rosewall beginning a sexual relationship shortly after, the court heard.
On July 20, 2016 - the day of Mr Clark-Robertson's murder - he and Rosewall were drinking and smoking marijuana.
The pair started to hang makeshift curtains in their Mitchell Street house because Mr Clark-Robertson was not popular and they didn't want people to see into the house.
Mr Clark-Robertson told Rosewall to "get me another cone, you paedo dog".
Rosewall "lost it" because he felt the comment was an insult about the age gap between him and Donald.
Rosewall picked up a hammer being used to hang the curtains and hit Mr Clark-Robertson five times in the back of the head.
"I was angry as hell, but did not realise I hit him that hard," Rosewall told the psychologist.
Mr Clark-Robertson convulsed on the floor briefly and then stopped moving.
Rosewall didn't call an ambulance because there were warrants for him for outstanding driving charges.
Prosecution believe Mr Clark-Robertson's body was buried within a week of the murder, which was nine months before he was discovered.
A third person, Robert William Broad, was also charged over the murder.
In November, Broad was found guilty by a jury of failing to report the killing of Mr Clark-Robertson.
Rosewall, Donald and the victim moved into Broad's Mayfield house in the same month Mr Clark-Robertson went missing.
Lawyer Patrick O'Halloran said there were no factual disputes in what the crown had asserted in regard to Rosewall, but he needed an adjournment while he sought a physical health report for his client.
Justice Robert Pearce remanded Rosewall to reappear on April 5.
A mental health report relevant to Donald's case can't be completed until May, with her sentencing submission unlikely to recommence until nearly three years after Mr Clark-Robertson was murdered.
Donald was remanded to reappear on March 22.
