She was loyal and caring, a person who squeezed great joy from life.

Her family and friends say Kelly Thompson, 43, was always the first to dream up ideas, invite people along, share her life with those she loved.

But in her last days the Point Cook woman was also terrified, stalked by her obsessive, jealous ex-partner, Wayne Wood.

Such was her distress that on her last night alive Ms Thompson fell asleep with three kitchen knives on her bedside table, a talisman against fear.

Her body was found in her home in February 2014, after Wood broke into her home, stabbed her to death and then took his own life.

In the Coroners Court on Thursday a white-framed photograph of Ms Thompson in a ruby-red shirt smiled down on the small group of family and friends who gathered to hear Judge Ian Gray deliver his findings on her murder.

And he was damning.

A litany of inadequate police responses, and a fragmented family violence system, failed to protect Ms Thompson from Wood, despite numerous "red flags", Judge Gray said.

"In terms of her interaction with the family violence system, Ms Thompson took all the right steps," he said.

Yet time after time the system failed her.

Ms Thompson had to front court without police help and seek her own intervention order, after Wood attempted to strangle her and chased her in his car.

Organised and whip-smart, she tried everything. She visited a family violence service, used the state-provided lawyer in court and reported intervention order breaches. In the weeks before her murder Ms Thompson made 38 calls to police.

"This case was replete with missed opportunities for risks to be known and properly assessed," Judge Gray said.

There were deficiencies in the family violence safety net and a "siloed" approach which limited information sharing, he said.

Wendy Thompson, Kelly's mum, says the relief of hearing 's death was preventable was profound: "We didn't expect him to say that as directly as he did."

Wendy and her husband John also said if action had been taken earlier, Wood might not have "accelerated" the way he did.

When Wood attempted to strangle Ms Thompson, the police report made no mention of his choking attempt, despite the emergency triple-zero call noting: "She's stated her partner tried to strangle her".

Instead, the police report that later arrived on the desk of the Wyndham police station's family violence team said it was a "verbal argument", minor in nature.

This significantly affected the trajectory of the matter, and the seriousness of Wood's behaviour was not uncovered, Judge Gray told the hearing.

On the day of Ms Thompson's death, her neighbour Norman Paskin rang the Werribee police station and said he was concerned Wood was in her house.

A relatively junior officer, Constable Sean Pringle, failed to check if an intervention order was in place for Ms Thompson or her address

"Can you do me a massive favour pal and keep an eye on the address?" Constable Pringle asked Mr Paskin. If the circumstances changed, or "yelling or screaming" was heard, he was to call back.

Judge Gray said Constable Pringle was acting in good faith, but his actions fell short. But Ms Thompson was unlikely to have been saved even if police had been dispatched, he said.

For help in a crisis call 000.

Safe Steps Family Violence Centre: 1800 015 188