A man accused of killing a missing Sydney woman said to police that she ordered him to remove bags of trash from her home before he departed.
James Hachem also disputed a detective’s assertion that objects on his car’s back seat appeared to be compatible with a “flesh-tone” color in CCTV stills.
In the interview from February 2019 that was shown before the jury on Thursday, he remarked, “You believe that she is dead and you are claiming I have flesh-tone.”
“I vehemently disagree; I know it is nonsense.”
“I am very certain that it is crap.”
The 36-year-old denied killing his on-and-off partner Samah Baker on January 4, 2019, in the NSW Supreme Court.
After a friend claimed to have left the 30-year-old off at her Parramatta home in the early hours of that day, relatives reported the woman missing.
Hachem claimed in the interview that he had gone to the apartment before leaving to go to K-Mart and buy her towels and linens.
When he came back, they got close once more before separating when it was daytime because they were both exhausted.
She asked him to dispose of some rubbish bags for him as well as a bed frame that she wanted to get rid of.
He claimed to have placed some trash in empty trash cans at his brother’s apartments, some in his own trash can, and the broken bed frame outside for collection by the council.
The detective directed him to CCTV images of his car, where something that appeared to be “flesh tone” colored was sitting in the back seat.
The detective questioned, “Is it possible that someone is in the back?”
Hachem refuted this claim, claiming the implication was disturbing.
He was directed to a text message he sent to Ms. Baker at 7:33 in the morning, in which he wrote: “Last night was so amazing, slept like a baby,” but added that he had been awake since 7:30 due to a dog barking.
The investigator looked to CCTV stills that showed him leaving for his house at 7.13 am and questioned him about how he managed to sleep for so little time.
Hachem admitted, “I did sleep a little in the car.”
Hachem claimed to have visited his employment center after being shown stills that showed his car was parked in a Westfield shopping center lot from 9 am to 3 pm on the 4th.
Then, he was questioned about going to Coles and buying heavy-duty gloves, rubbish bags, and other wipes with cash.
He claimed that he used some of the wipes to clean up after masturbating and that the remainder were for cleaning kitchen equipment.
When asked why he purchased so many products on that particular day, Haschem said that he had responsibilities to complete.
He dismissed the idea that it appeared as though he had an unexpected need to clean anything.
He claimed that he might have driven to a brothel later on, adding that he frequently frequented ones in Liverpool, Canberra, and Wollongong as well as Tiffany, a brothel he truly enjoyed.
Hachem said that he frequently drove, occasionally stopping to sleep in his car since it was more convenient than getting to sleep at home when he was informed that his E-tag had been used on the M5, returning the next morning.
Despite the fact that the windows were open in stills, Hachem claimed there was no need to let the car breathe.
He vehemently denied any involvement in Ms. Baker’s disappearance, murder, or passing away.
Before Justice Robertson Wright, the trial resumes.