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AAP
AAP
National
Emily Woods

Elderly man's dead body 'carved into' with box cutter

A Supreme Court jury has heard gruesome details about the alleged murder of a 72-year-old man. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Two people allegedly carved into a 72-year-old man's body with a box cutter and gouged his eyes out before covering his remains with a curtain, a jury has been told.

After her arrest, Jodie Hill has been accused of boasting to an undercover police officer inside her holding cell that the experience was "the biggest rush ever".

"This fulfilled one of my fantasies and only the start of my fantasies," she allegedly said.

Hill faced the first day on trial at Melbourne's Supreme Court over the death of John Hunter, whose body was found in January 2023 inside a bedroom of his Dimboola home in western Victoria.

Dimboola sign (file)
John Hunter's mutilated body was found in a bedroom of his Dimboola home. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)

The 45-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to murder and a jury of 14 was empanelled on Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege Hill either caused Mr Hunter's death herself, assisted or encouraged another man to kill him, or entered into an agreement to commit the alleged murder.

Mr Hunter was found dead by a friend about 5pm on January 23, 2023, after he had not been seen or heard from since January 20, prosecutor Nadia Kaddeche told the jury.

He had been living at his property for less than six months and required an oxygen pump to help with his breathing as he was being treated for lung disease. 

When police found Mr Hunter's body, he was covered in a bunched-up curtain with a box cutter entwined inside it and a T-shirt pulled over his head, Ms Kaddeche said.

She said the box cutter was used to "carve into the deceased's body" and  his eyes had also been gouged out.

"The penis, scrotum and testicles had been amputated. It's alleged this occurred after the deceased had died," she told the jury.

Ms Kaddeche said Mr Hunter's genitalia, and a box of power tools, had never been found. 

She alleged Hill and another man had killed Mr Hunter in his kitchen and dining room area before dragging his body to a spare bedroom.

Barrister Tim Marsh (file)
Barrister Tim Marsh said Jodie Hill denied assaulting John Hunter in any way. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Hill had entered Mr Hunter's home through a sliding glass door before a physical confrontation ensured, and he fell over and was struck to the head at least twice, Ms Kaddeche said.

She said Hill's fingerprints were found on a gate at the property and mixed samples of her DNA were found on the box cutter, leading to her arrest in February 2023.

During a break from her police interview, Ms Kaddeche said Hill was placed in a holding cell with an undercover police officer where she allegedly admitted the murder.

"I just went along with it, it's new to me and it's the first one I've ever done," the prosecutor said Hill told the officer.

"I gashed his eyes out with f***ing secateurs."

Asked why she killed Mr Hunter, she allegedly said it was "just for fun".

However, Hill's barrister Tim Marsh said these claims were "outright lies" and she had claimed to "be a hit woman for the bikies" during the conversation.

"That's nonsense, she's talking herself up in the environment of the cells," he told the jury.

Mr Marsh said Hill denied committing the murder herself, or by complicity with another man, denied assaulting Mr Hunter "in any way" and will raise issues with the DNA evidence during the trial. 

The trial continues on Wednesday.

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