Carly McBride murder trial: prosecution say Sayle Newson had motive, opportunity and skill to inflict fatal blows

There is "no smoking gun"; no eye-witness to the murder, no CCTV footage showing Ms McBride being grabbed off the street, no murder weapon and no blood or DNA.

Mr Carr said the prosecution does not know how the injuries that killed Ms McBride were inflicted; whether the murderer used kicks, knees and punches, a piece of wood or some other object.

But Mr Carr said what the prosecution did have were pieces of a puzzle that when placed together began to reveal a picture that he said eventually became an overwhelming circumstantial case eliminating any other potential explanations for how Ms McBride disappeared from Muswellbrook on September 30, 2014, and how her body came to be dumped by the side of the road at Owens Gap.

Mr Newson, now 43, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms McBride at Muswellbrook in 2014 and for the past two months has faced a trial in Newcastle Supreme Court.

During his closing address on Wednesday, Mr Carr told the jury Mr Newson had the motive, the opportunity and the skills to inflict the blows that caused multiple fractures to Ms McBride's head and back.

Mr Carr said throughout the police investigation, Mr Newson sought to present that he was in a loving relationship with Ms McBride, but text messages between the pair revealed that to be a "facade".

The texts included Mr Newson telling Ms McBride "don't f--- me around", "I am violent when in this mood" and "open your legs and shut your neck".

Mr Carr said there was evidence that in the days before Ms McBride went missing that Mr Newson was acting "jealous, possessive and angry" over men contacting Ms McBride on Facebook.

And he said that situation was aggravated by Mr Newson's admitted ice use and lack of sleep around the time Ms McBride went missing.

"You can see the tension building up," Mr Carr said. "It is not this wonderful loving relationship that is sought to be portrayed."

And Mr Carr returned to the theme of what he has labelled Mr Newson's "public versus private persona", where Mr Newson made public posts offering a $20,000 reward for information about Ms McBride but within 12 hours of her disappearance was messaging other women for sex.

Defence barrister Chris Watson will deliver his closing address on Thursday before Justice Mark Ierace, SC, sums up the case and the jury retire to begin considering their verdict.

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