A Melbourne prostitute worth about $3 million was likely strangled for up to two minutes, a murder trial has heard.
Johanna "Jazzy O" Martin, 65, died from a neck compression injury in October 2011.
Steve Constantinou, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Martin and says she died during a sex act gone wrong.
Prosecutors say he killed Ms Martin because she had asked that he repay $8500 she had loaned him.
The Victorian Supreme Court heard on Thursday that Ms Martin was a woman of considerable wealth, with assets of about $3 million including properties and cash.
She always wore a number of gold jewellery items including necklaces, bangles and rings, the court heard.
Forensic pathologist Paul Bedford, who conducted a post-mortem examination of Ms Martin, said his favoured theory was that she was strangled from behind with a ligature and a moderate amount of force.
He was asked by prosecutor Mark Rochford SC whether it appeared Ms Martin was a willing or unwilling participant in having something strangle her.
"The fact there's several layers of injuries from the chin down to the neck indicates there is probably some degree of movement which would suggest to me that there has been some resistance to that process," Dr Bedford replied.
He said the strangulation would have taken between 30 seconds and at least a couple of minutes.
Dr Bedford said it was not possible that Ms Martin could have strangled herself with a rope as Constantinou suggested in a police interview.
He said there were no defensive wounds and no evidence of injury to her wrists to suggest she had been tied.
However, Dr Bedford said it was possible an abrasion around her chin may have been an injury caused by fighting back.
Ms Martin, a sex worker and stripper who was also known as Honi, performed shows that sometimes involved her having sex on stage.
A friend of Ms Martin's told the court that she had about $3 million in assets that included properties and cars.
"She owned properties and had a good life, but she told everybody about it ... wearing the jewellery and having the cars, one minute she would have a Mercedes and the next minute she would have a BMW, and she used to talk about her city apartment," the friend said.
"A lot of the people in the business don't tell people about their private lives."
The trial before Justice Phillip Priest is continuing.
