A woman has told of the rough sex which characterised her relationship with Liam James Reid, now accused of two rapes, a murder and an attempted murder at a trial in the High Court at Christchurch.
She also told of his discussion about suicide. Late on November 23 - the crown alleges he raped a woman in Dunedin soon after - she got a text message from him asking if she wanted to die with him. He suggested gassing themselves.
The crown has described the rough sex that Reid indulged in as "a signature" linking him with the murder of Christchurch woman Emma Agnew last November, and the sex attack on the 21-year-old Dunedin student nine days later.
The Dunedin woman earlier told the court that her attacker had punched her at least twice in the genital area and a pathologist has described deep bruising being found in that location on the body of Miss Agnew, which was found near Spencer Park, north of Christchurch.
Reid's former partner, who has name suppression, spent most of today, the 10th day of the trial, giving evidence and being cross-examined before Justice Lester Chisholm and a jury.
She told how she and Reid used a "safe word" if one of them wanted to stop what was happening when they were having rough sex.
One night, after saying their safe word and Reid not stopping, he had got very angry and punched her in the genital region, she said.
On November 21 last year, she met the bus from Nelson and drove Reid to a self-contained unit at the Spencer Park motorcamp.
When she opened the curtains in the unit, he immediately closed them again and insisted she keep them shut.
That night she shaved his head, and then had rough sex. This included manual strangulation and discussing what happened to her body after she went unconscious, and when he knew that he had to stop.
"A lot of what I went through was to test how much I could handle," she said.
The next day she went for a walk and noticed a television broadcasting vehicle had arrived and was getting set up. She told Reid what was happening and he became extremely paranoid.
He told her he was leaving, jumped out a back window and disappeared into the pine trees. He turned up again later and told her to pick him up on her way home, before running off again.
She packed the unit up and picked Reid up, past a place where the police had a cordon.
She dropped him off as he was paranoid, anxious, nervous and very much over the top, she said.
On November 23 he texted her that he was in Dunedin. At 11.20pm she received a text from Reid asking her if she wanted to die with him. He suggested gassing themselves.
At 1.44am she received a text saying that he was very busy at the moment.
"Secrets that I can only share face to face."
The crown has alleged that he was carrying out his sex attack on the Dunedin woman at that time.
When he got back to Christchurch from Dunedin later that day, she said he had a cut on his upper right lip and his right ear was marked. He had muddy handprints on his short-sleeve shirt.
On November 25, she was staying with him at Wigram Lodge in Christchurch. He was anxious and crying and said he had done something "really bad".
When she questioned him further, he said he had "killed the girl".
He said it was "the deaf girl" and had admitted raping her. He would not tell her where the body was.
He also said he had tried to kill and rape a girl in Dunedin, and that he did not regret it and would do it again.
Defence counsel David Bunce alleged the woman's evidence was "fundamentally dishonest", false and misleading.
He said she had portrayed herself as the victim of Reid's violence and wanted him convicted at all costs.
He questioned her in detail about drug dealing, which she denied.
He said Reid would say in evidence that she had "some peculiar sexual tastes" and loved being controlled, and had simulated rape.
The woman was asked about how many times she had dumped Reid and then lured him back.
Mr Bunce described her evidence as "highly selective and misleading".
The woman's cross-examination will continue on Tuesday morning.
