An increasingly paranoid Antonie Dixon beat his former partner on numerous occasions, using not only his fists but also a ratchet and a piece of timber.
Simonne Butler told the High Court in Auckland today she gave Dixon's moods four names, ranging from Good Tony to Ugly Man and said anything could trigger his violent outbursts toward her.
Ms Butler said while Dixon had always been paranoid from the time she met him, she noticed a marked change in his personality from 2002.
Dixon, 40, faces eight charges relating to incidents that occurred in January 2003 when Renee Gunbie and Ms Butler were attacked with a samurai sword at Pipiroa near Thames and James Te Aute was shot dead in Auckland. The charges include murdering Mr Te Aute and causing grievous bodily harm to Ms Gunbie and Ms Butler.
Dixon was found guilty in 2005 of eight charges, but the Court of Appeal later ordered a second trial, suppressing its reasons for quashing the original verdicts.
Ms Butler, who met Dixon in February 1997, told crown prosecutor Richard Marchant under cross-examination that she first knew Dixon was smoking methamphetamine, or P, in 2001.
Mr Marchant asked if it was at this time Dixon's behaviour became a little more extreme.
"They did after the 9/11 attacks but the extreme, extreme, extreme was in 2002," Ms Butler replied.
"Did you see him smoke P after that?"
"I don't remember, maybe I noticed or didn't want to notice," Ms Butler replied.
Ms Butler said she had smoked P with Dixon but did not like it.
"Was it possible he was smoking P?"
"Anything is possible."
At Pipiroa, where the couple had moved in June 2002, Dixon's talk of being followed by Cessnas increased, more so when Ms Gunbie moved in in October, she said.
Dixon's constant assertions he was being followed had an effect on her own state of mind, Ms Butler said.
"I'm still paranoid."
Dixon was "so certain, so definite" about a conspiracy against him, she said.
"Paranoia is infectious.
"While I thought people may not be trying to kill him I did think maybe people were following him."
Ms Butler said she was not paranoid before meeting Dixon "but you know it's been a long hard road, I think I deserve to be paranoid about some things".
Dixon used to be anti-drugs and would sit for hours talking about how bad it was for people, she said.
"It never occurred to me that he would develop a problem."
Dixon was also heavily influenced by things going on around him, including the 9/11 attacks and the increased security around the America's Cup.
When asked if she was sleeping with a policeman when Dixon had attacked her, which he believed, Ms Butler replied "no" but admitted to having slept with a policeman once before.
When Dixon found out in October 2000 he confronted her .
"That was the first time I got a hardcore hiding."
Dixon demanded she meet him at a supermarket carpark and after arguing, "he punched me in the head a couple of times".
Ms Butler suggested they call the relationship off because Dixon was not happy but he told her "no way are you getting away from me".
Dixon took her home, cooked her dinner and apologised for hitting her, promising never to hurt her again. Dixon continued to randomly punch her in the head for "being too slow, too quick, too useless". The attacks "could be 30 seconds of violence or it could be three hours".
Once he smacked her in the face with a ratchet, she said.
He cut her hair as punishment and also hit her with a piece of timber for being too slow opening a door, she said.
Holding a fulltime job was impossible and she quit fulltime work to focus her time on Dixon, she said.
Dixon was controlling but "it was so subtle that I didn't notice it to begin until I realised I was in this self-imposed cage".
Under re-examination, Ms Butler said the trigger for the violence would be an "instantaneous thing and all of a sudden something popped into his head and it was all on".
"Usually it was me.
"It was a very strange time."
The trial continues tomorrow.
