A key defence witness has given conflicting accounts of where Amirah Droudis, the partner of Sydney siege gunman Man Monis, was on the weekend she allegedly carried out a brutal murder at his command, a court has heard.
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Ms Droudis, 37, is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court accused of stabbing Monis' ex-wife 18 times, dousing her in petrol and setting her alight in an apartment complex in April 2013. Ms Droudis has pleaded not guilty, but her defence team does not dispute that Monis was the mastermind of the murder.
A young female relative who was called by the defence team as an alibi witness told the court she had slept over at a property in Belmore and had been with Ms Droudis on the afternoon of the murder.
But in cross-examination, the relative conceded that she had given a different version of events when interviewed by police shortly after Ms Droudis was arrested in November 2013.
In that interview, the relative said she had only been with Ms Droudis in the morning and was driven by her to the Belmore property. The murder of Monis' ex-wife occurred in the afternoon of that day.
"I don't remember the majority of that interview," the woman told the court.
"I don't know. I was 13 and I just, I didn't know what to say... I was just trying to do what I could."
The relative is one of three witnesses expected to be called by Ms Droudis' defence team. Ms Droudis is not expected to give evidence.
The Crown, which finished presenting its case on Wednesday afternoon, says Ms Droudis was "brainwashed" by Monis and was "ready and willing" to carry out his commands including the killing.
The court has heard that Monis prepared an elaborate alibi for himself - including deliberately crashing his car and asking to be taken to hospital - at the time of the murder.
Surveillance recordings, which the Crown allege Monis and Ms Droudis were aware of, capture the pair discussing what the word alibi means after the killing.
Monis suggests Ms Droudis' parents might be able to sign something saying she had been at their home at the time of the murder.
"In the future when we decide to talk to [police] then they will understand that you have alibi more than me," Monis says in the recording.
"So there's no problem."
Ms Droudis defence team argue that Monis could have convinced one of his many lovers to carry out the murder, or hired another person.
The Crown, however, says Ms Droudis was "enthralled" by Monis, adopted his extremist views and the use of fire was a "ritualistic element" of the murder.
The trial is due to continue on Thursday.
