A man who punched, kicked and stabbed his wife before fatally hitting her over the head with a bollard acted in a "jealous rage" because he thought she was cheating on him, a court has heard.
Arona Peniamina pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the beginning of his Supreme Court trial in Brisbane, but denied it was murder.
The crown rejected the plea and pressed on with the murder trial.
Mr Peniamina, 38, was arrested in March 2016 after he fatally attacked his wife Sandra Peniamina in the driveway of their Kippa-Ring home, north of Brisbane.
In her opening address, crown prosecutor Dzenita Balic told the court Mr Peniamina killed the mother of four in "anger, jealousy and rage".
"She died on the driveway of that house, covered in her own blood," she said.
"Most likely, killed with a bollard that was taken from a fence line ... it was applied to the back of her head most likely more than once. She was dead after that."
The prosecution said neighbours, including two off duty police officers, heard "blood-curdling screams" and ran to help and found Mr Peniamina sitting at the front of the property with his injured hand wrapped in a shirt.
"You will hear him tell them that she cheated on him," Ms Balic said.
"He thought she was unfaithful to him ... it had preoccupied his mind."
The court heard the bloodied crime scene was consistent with Ms Peniamina trying to flee the house and that she died from blunt force trauma to her head.
"She tried to run away from him — she managed to get to the front door. He followed her outside, he grabbed her and threw her on the ground outside," Ms Balic said.
"He kicked her again. He then grabbed the bollard ... and hit her on the back of the head with it, probably twice."
The prosecution told the court Mr Peniamina had come home angry and argued the killing was intentional, not provoked.
"There was a cloud of infidelity that existed, whether true or not, that was occupying his mind," Ms Balic said.
Mr Peniamina's defence team did not make an opening statement, but the jury has been told the defence of provocation would most likely be an issue.
The trial is expected to run for one week.
