An accused serial killer approached the granddaughter of one of his alleged victims and told her he was sorry to hear about her grandmother's death, an Adelaide murder trial has been told.
Mildura man Steven Leslie Hainsworth, 49, is on trial in the South Australian Supreme Court charged with the murders of Phyllis Harrison, 71, at Elizabeth South in 1998, Beverley Hanley, 64, at Elizabeth North in 2010 and Stephen Newton, 55, at Mt Gambier in 2011.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Kylie Harrison said she was on the front porch at her grandmother's home on Saturday, March 7, 1998 when she was approached by Hainsworth, who lived next door.
Mrs Harrison was found stabbed to death on the kitchen floor of her home on Tuesday March 3, 1998.
"He said that he was sorry to hear about Nanna's death," Ms Harrison told the court.
"He said that one of his kids had hit a ball over the fence. He said that it was around 8.30 on the Monday night and said it was too late to come over, so he went over the next morning and went to the front door but there was no answer."
Under questioning from Director of Public Prosecutions Martin Hinton KC, she said Hainsworth had told her he had gone into her grandmother's games room to get the ball.
But Ben Lodge, for Hainsworth, directed Ms Harrison to a statement she made to police in 1998, when she said Hainsworth told her he went into her grandmother's yard to get the ball.
Asked which statement was correct, she said the statement she made 26 years ago was correct.
Helen Organ, who lived with her three children and Hainsworth in the home next door to Mrs Harrison, told the court that Hainsworth was with her all day on March 3, 1998.
She said Hainsworth had told her that morning that he had walked down his neighbour's driveway to get a ball that had gone over there, and he had her daughter Vanessa with him.
She told the court she did not see Hainsworth walk down the driveway, but when she had got into her van for the morning school run, the ball was in there.
Earlier this week, prosecutors alleged that Hainsworth, then aged 23, had entered Mrs Harrison's home via an unlocked door at the rear of the house about 8pm on March 2, 1998 looking for items of value.
They alleged that when he encountered Mrs Harrison in her kitchen, he stabbed and killed her.
The judge-alone trial before Justice Adam Kimber continues on Friday.
