An elderly man who allegedly bludgeoned his wife in the head 20 times with what was believed to be a wooden elephant on Christmas night told police 'he lost it', a court has heard.
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Edward Rowen, 84, from Creswick, faced the Supreme Court of Victoria for a judge only special hearing after he was found unfit to stand trial on Monday.
His wife, 78-year-old Rosalie Rowen, was critically injured in the alleged assault between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on December 25, 2019 at their Melbourne Road property in Creswick.
She was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and died in the early hours of the next morning.
He said he hit her across the head and he thinks he killed her.
- Rebecca Pascoe, witness
The couple had been married 56-years and had four children together.
Six prosecution witnesses gave evidence to the court on Tuesday via video link, including their daughter, a neighbour who tended to Mrs Rowen, a passerby and attending police officers.
The court heard Rowen, his wife and some family members had attended a Christmas dinner earlier in the evening where Rowen had consumed alcohol and became aggressive.
Crown prosecutor David Glynn said later that night neighbours and a passing driver attended the scene and Rowen made admissions to killing his wife.
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Defence barrister Tim Marsh said Rowen was not able to provide an account of the offence or instructions to defence due to his mental impairment, likely Alzheimer's
"There is limited scope to challenge the prosecution case given admissions at the scene and corresponding evidence of the item matching his description," he said.
"It is a matter for Your Honour to determine beyond reasonable doubt the offence of murder can be proven to be committed by Mr Rowen."
Rowen's daughter Cathie Boyd told the court her mother and father lived alone at their Creswick home and returned there on Christmas night after dinner with the family in Miners Rest.
She said her father had drunk beer and there was an argument about him consuming jelly shots.
Ms Boyd said the grandchildren had made jelly shots with strong vodka and her father tried to take the jelly shots thinking they were dessert.
She said the family members tried to stop him and his wife crushed one of the jelly cups in his hand.
"He wasn't happy, he got angry. He raised an arm and he was told to go sit down and stop being silly," Ms Boyd said.
"He wanted another beer... we continued on with our evening, had dinner and mum and dad went home just prior to 8pm."
She said there was no anger or tension between her father and mother when they left.
Witness and neighbour Rebecca Pascoe was at home with her partner and his family for Christmas dinner when one of the family members said they could hear a man yelling outside.
She said Rowen came up to her and hugged her when she went outside and said 'you need to help me'.
"I said what is wrong. He said he killed his wife," Mr Pascoe told the court.
"He said he hit her across the head and he thinks he killed her."
Ms Pascoe said she went into Rowen's house and saw a small wooden elephant statue covered in blood and hair on the kitchen table.
She said she saw Mrs Rowen on the ground, sitting against the wall in a pool of blood with blood gushing from her head.
Ms Pascoe said she held a towel to Mrs Rowen's head and tried to speak to her while she sat with her eyes open staring ahead, but she did not respond.
Witness Miles Tait told the court he was was driving on Melbourne Road in Creswick with his wife just before 10pm when he saw Rowen in the middle of the road calling for help.
He said he called triple zero and walked into the house and saw Ms Pascoe tending to Mrs Rowen while Rowen continued 'distressed' to flag down other cars.
"He said to me 'leave me out here, I've killed her'. He said he had been drinking during the day and flew into a rage but had calmed down," Mr Tait said.
The court heard Senior Constable Jason Allison arrived at the scene, handcuffed Rowen and left him with Mr Tait while he tended to Mrs Rowen.
"He (the police officer) said hold him, if he tries to run yell for me," Mr Tait said.
"Rowen asked if we reckoned they would hang him for what he had done and said 'do you have a gun? You should shoot me here'.
"He said he was furious at the ladies for telling him not to drink and wanted to drink more.
"He said his wife started pestering him about his behaviour that day and he flew into a rage, grabbed the wooden elephant, she started screaming and he must have hit her about 20 times before she stopped crying."
Senior Constable Allison responded to the incident as the only office stationed in Creswick and said he was getting ready for bed when he got the call.
Police body worn camera footage from the night was played to the court, revealing Rowen telling officers he was out on the street when he realised 'what he had done'.
"I was trying to kill her. I told her I would... I just lost it," Rowen told Allison at the scene.
Acting Sergeant Ryan Newman said he saw a lot of blood around Mrs Rowen when he arrived at the scene from Ballarat.
"It very much suggested there had been a lot of violence in that room," he said to the court.
Acting Sergeant Newman said he organised for the air ambulance and paramedics worked on Mrs Rowen for more than an hour before flying her to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
"I had a conversation with the accused before he was taken to Ballarat. He kept asking if the victim had died," he said.
"I said 'no she is not dead yet'. He stated 'I wish she died'."
Forensic pathologist Joanna Glengarry who performed Mrs Rowen's autopsy gave evidence to the court that blunt force head injuries caused her death.
She said the greatest concentration of injuries were to the head and face, with facial fractures, bruising, skull fractures, bleeding on the brain and bruising to the brain.
Dr Glengarry said it was 'entirely plausible' the injuries she observed were caused by the weapon Mr Rowen had described to police, the small solid elephant statue.
"The complexity of the proposed weapon contributes to the complexity of the injuries," she said.
The case was adjourned to Wednesday when the police informant will give evidence and the prosecution and defence will make their final submissions.
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