Friend undoubtedly killed man, jury told

A woman accused of beating her friend to death with a frying pan gave different accounts to police and journalists about how well she knew him, a Sydney jury has been told.

Narelle Fiona Smith, 46, is accused of murdering Peter McCarthy after his body was found in his South Coogee unit on December 20, 2020, face-up on the lounge room floor surrounded by broken furniture, glasses and frying pan.

In her first interaction with police, Smith said she "didn't really know him".

"I really don't, I steer clear of him though because he hangs out with the wrong crowd and because of my parole I can't be with them," she told police.

However on December 24, Smith told Channel 10 journalist Steven Hart a different story, the court heard.

"He went suicidal at one stage, these are things he can't tell his family," she said in an interview.

When she was arrested on January 11, 2021, body-worn footage showed Smith telling police "I didn't murder him, he was my friend".

In her closing remarks crown prosecutor Katharine Jeffreys told the jury it should have no doubt Smith killed Mr McCarthy.

"When you look at all the facts, I suggest you will have no doubt that the inevitable conclusion is that the accused killed the deceased," she said.

"She is inconsistent on how well she knew the deceased, there was no evidence of a break-in, there's no forensic evidence in any relevant locations of an unknown individual."

Ms Jeffreys rejected Smith's assertion that she went to the 77-year-old's house to cook him dinner and help him remove his ex-lover's belongings from his home so he could begin a new relationship with a neighbour.

"A considerable part of her account is that she spent significant time cleaning out (Julia Strafela's) items, does it seem likely to you?" she asked the jury.

"Even if you accept he would have liked Ms Strafela out of his unit, does this really sound like the way the deceased would make that happen."

The plan to remove his ex's belongings was not consistent with how Mr McCarthy treated people, Ms Jeffreys said.

"It's a provocative thing to do, not the kind of solution of someone who'd spent many years as a lawyer and then a mediator," she said.

Smith has always "categorically and vehemently" denied murdering her friend, pointing the finger at Ms Strafela who had a key to his flat, the jury has been told.

Smith told police her blood might be found in the unit as she cut herself with a screwdriver while fixing Mr McCarthy's deadlock.

"She has put her hand up when it comes to wrongdoings, including one serious wrongdoing," barrister Sharyn Hall SC said at the beginning of the trial.

"But there is one serious wrongdoing she denies - that is having a hand in the death of Mr McCarthy."

The trial continues.