A Leicester woman has gone on trial accused of murdering her lover, whose dismembered body was found in a shallow grave.
Tara Swift (41), of West Street, off Tigers Way, is accused with ex-boyfriend Peter Healy of killing 50-year-old Kevin Kennedy.
The pair, who are on trial at Nottingham Crown Court, deny murder.
Mr Kennedy's headless and armless body was found inside a duvet cover in undergrowth on land between Rossington Road and Burrows Court, Sneinton, Nottingham, on August 8 last year.
His head and arms have never been found, the jury was told.
It is alleged Swift and Healy murdered Mr Kennedy three weeks before his remains were discovered. The court heard Mr Kennedy was last seen alive on CCTV on July 17, walking towards Rossington Road, where Swift then lived.
Timothy Spencer QC, prosecuting, said the following day, Swift told someone Healy had beaten up Mr Kennedy. She said she had saw the attack, at her home, but had been too scared to call an ambulance in case Healy had attacked her, too.
The court was told after the alleged attack, the pair left Swift's home.
Mr Spencer said there was no CCTV footage of either defendant going anywhere near Rossington Road on July 18.
He claimed the pair were "deliberately staying away" as they "knew the enormity of what had gone on the evening or night before".
Days after the attack, Swift and Healy (51), of Lord Nelson Street, Sneinton, were caught on CCTV in the Rossington Road area, the jury was told.
Healy allegedly got "rid of something" in one of the shots, prosecutors claimed.
In due course, Swift presented herself to police as a "helpless bystander" who had been unable to prevent the horrific assault by Healy on Mr Kennedy, the jury was told. When interviewed, Swift claimed she had tried to stop Healy but was punched. "Peter put a chair on to his [Mr Kennedy's] head," she said. "He was a mess. He looked like a horror movie."
The court was told the violence had begun when Swift opened the door to Healy's son, and Healy senior had rushed in and begun smashing chairs on Mr Kennedy.
Swift claimed Healy was swearing and saying to Mr Kennedy that he was having sex with his "missus". Swift said she tried to jump in, but was beaten.
It was claimed that on August 5, Swift had told two women she thought Mr Kennedy was dead as Healy had put him in a wheelie bin on bin day, "so the bin men will have collected him".
Police community support officers had been asking after him in the area, before his remains were discovered.
Jurors were presented with scientific findings suggesting Mr Kennedy was assaulted with multiple blows while sitting in an armchair.
Heavy bloodstaining on a mattress indicated Mr Kennedy had lain on a bed for some time and had been partially dismembered on or near there.
DNA from Mr Kennedy was on a chair leg, and a legless chair had a small bloodstain from Healy on it, indicating Healy had hold of the chair while bleeding himself.
"The prosecution say Healy was a jealous man," said Mr Spencer. "He was aware Tara Swift had taken up with Kevin Kennedy."
Healy and Swift are also charged with perverting the course of justice between July 17 and August 8, 2012, by concealing and/or disposing of the body and the body parts of Mr Kennedy.
The case continues on Monday.
