An accused killer is fighting claims he murdered a brothel owner, with his lawyers quizzing police and experts in court about their investigations and evidence.
Asian migrant sex worker Yuko, 62, was found dead in late 2024 at the brothel she ran on Cowper Street in Footscray, with Michael James Chalmers charged with her murder.
The 36-year-old is also charged with rape and is contesting all charges.
He faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where the court heard Yuko was found dead between November 27 and November 30, 2024, at Rainbow Garden brothel.
Chalmers' barrister Barnaby Johnston asked the police investigator about CCTV footage obtained from the brothel around the time of Yuko's death.
He confirmed with Detective Daniel Fallone that Yuko had owned and worked at the brothel, which had three bedrooms, with CCTV provided to police from the week before she died.
Mr Johnston claimed Yuko saw 13 clients from November 19 to 27, including three in the 24 hours before her death who excluded his client.
Det Fallone confirmed he had only took a statement from one of those men.
The defence barrister said the CCTV was from the property's hallway and showed Yuko ushering clients to a bedroom for 30 minutes to three hours, and police could not see what occurred in the room.
Mr Johnston also raised that Yuko's daughter had seen CCTV of someone striking her mother and she believed it had been reported to police.
Det Fallone said he did not have that report and was only aware of a statement she gave about a home invasion.
Mr Johnston said his client's arrest was targeted and planned, and said sheets with blood found in Yuko's bedroom were not tested by police.
Earlier, he quizzed three forensic experts about Yuko's cause of death.
Forensic pathologist Joanne Ho conducted an autopsy on the woman's body on November 30 and found her cause of death could not be ascertained.
She said Yuko's injuries - including haemorrhaged eyes and cuts to her cheek, chin and jaw - were "suggestive" that she died from strangulation or smothering.
Mr Johnston queried whether Yuko may have died from a cardiac arrest, which Dr Ho said was possible but noted her heart appeared normal.
A second pathologist, Joanna Glengarry, examined her body on the same day and found Yuko's death occurred from neck compression, smothering or gagging.
The committal hearing will continue on Monday when Chalmers' defence team will give submissions on the evidence and prosecutors will respond.
Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano will then decide whether there is enough evidence to commit Chalmers to stand trial in the Supreme Court for the murder.
Outside court, Asian migrant sex worker advocates demanded justice for Yuko.
"This case is emblematic of the ongoing oppression that is emblematic of the violence that migrant sex workers face in this country and the failure to legislate for our rights," Damien Nguyen, from Rising Red Lantern project, told AAP.
