Alleged wife killer not violent: relative

A relative of a man accused of murdering his wife never witnessed him being violent towards her, a Sydney court has heard.

A relative of a man accused of suffocating his estranged wife says he never saw the husband being violent towards her.

Raj Kumar, 54, is alleged to have broken into his wife Rajeshwari Kumar's Colyton home in Sydney's west in February 2012 and attacked the 47-year-old from behind.

Rajeshwari's body was later discovered by police on a double bed in the couple's marital home. She had been suffocated.

Kumar has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

Crown prosecutor Mark Hobart SC has previously told Kumar's Supreme Court trial that the couple's marriage had "broken down irretrievably" some time before her death.

In 2011, Rajeshwari Kumar told police that he had threatened to `chop her into pieces' and to "smash" her face.

Kumar was later placed under a court order to stay away from the family home.

But a male relative, who cannot be named, told the court on Wednesday that he had never seen Kumar being violent towards his wife.

While he said Kumar did lock Rajeshwari out of the house for up to an hour one day, he did not see him drag her or punch her, he said.

The trial heard from forensic biologist Clinton Mark Cochrane who said he found what he believed to be blood stains on a tea towel collected from the crime scene.

These stains, he told the court, contained traces of DNA that matched Kumar.

"We expect that profile to occur in fewer than one in 10 billion individuals in the general population," he said.

The crown alleges Kumar used a tea towel to open the window of the home after smashing it.

The trial continues.


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