Dudley Davey has pleaded guilty to both the rape and murder of the 56-year-old who was found buried in a shallow grave three days after she went missing from her home in Fregon, in SA's north, in March last year.
In final sentencing submissions on Monday, Mrs Woodford was described as someone regarded by all on SA's Indigenous lands as a "nice lady who looked after everyone".
"She made sure that all in Fregon and the other places she worked, were given proper care," a statement presented on behalf of the entire community said.
"Gayle was not scared of the Aboriginal people. She treated the able and the disabled, the frail and unwell, the educated and the uneducated, the employed and the unemployed, justly and fairly.
"She was one of the warmest people to ever work in Fregon."
Prosecutor Ian Press told the court that Davey had a long history of offending and remained a "real and ongoing" danger to the community.
Defence counsel Nick Vadasz said Davey had always been an angry man who could not articulate why he killed Mrs Woodford.
Supreme Court Justice Ann Vanstone will sentence Davey on Thursday.
AAP
