A jury has heard Brisbane socialite Maureen Boyce died after she was stabbed multiple times with a cooking knife, with the final blow so deep it impaled her to her bed.
The 68-year-old’s body was found inside her Kangaroo Point unit on October 22, 2015.
Thomas Chris Lang pleaded not guilty to his former partner’s murder on the first day of his Brisbane Supreme Court trial on Monday.
Socialite Maureen Boyce died after she was stabbed multiple times with a cooking knife, 2015
Thomas Chris Lang was charged with the former socialite’s murder after she was found dead
The judge said Lang (centre) rekindled his relationship with Boyce the week before she died
Ms Boyce’s son Zac appears to have denied the claim that Ms Boyce and Lang were together
Crown prosecutor David Meredith said in his opening statement the jury had to decide whether Lang killed her or ‘whether she committed suicide’.
‘The only issue is who stabbed her,’ he said.
Mr Meredith said over the course of the 10-day trial the jury would hear evidence Ms Boyce was found in her bed with a ‘cooking knife impaling her stomach to the bed’.
‘The knife was protruding from her back,’ he said.
The court heard the pair had known each other for more than 35 years, used to be a couple and Ms Boyce had previously told her son that Lang was his biological father.
Her son Zac (far left) has since speculated that Ms Boyce and her husband Graham (centre) were still in a committed relationship with one another and she couldn’t have been with Lang
Maureen Boyce (left) and her daughter Angelique (right) at the Flemington Cup in 2002
Zachary Boyce (left) has revealed his mother Maureen was concerned Lang was depressed
Ms Boyce’ son Zac (pictured as a child, right) was told Thomas Chris Lang was his ‘real’ father
Mr Meredith said the pair had rekindled their relationship in the years leading up to her death and Lang had been staying with Ms Boyce the week before she died.
Mr Meredith said the jury would see footage of the accused’s interviews with police where he said he went to sleep about 11pm on October 21 only to find the 68-year-old dead the following morning.
Mr Meredith said Lang claimed Ms Boyce had been distressed the night before over the sale of her unit, they had argued and she had thrown her mobile phone off the balcony about 9.30pm.
Ms Boyce and Mr Lang were reportedly living together in her luxury unit at Kangaroo Point
Ms Lang’s body was found in her bed with a cooking knife pinning her body to the mattress
But the crown prosecutor claimed a technical officer who pored over the phone’s memory would give evidence that was ‘not true’.
Ms Boyce’s psychiatrist is also expected to give evidence she was in a ‘reasonably settled’ frame of mind just two days before she died.
Mr Meredith said the former model had previously discussed suicide with him and had been unwell earlier that year but had since recovered.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
Maureen Boyce’s beautiful white coffin topped with pink roses at the conclusion of her funeral
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