A man accused of shooting a woman in the head then burning her body in a tent messaged a friend about "doing 10 years minimum", a Victorian court has been told.
Nicholas James Cross, 34, is standing trial for the murder of 29-year-old Maddison Pante at a Geelong campsite in December 2018.
Cross shot Ms Pante in the head with a sawn-off .22 calibre bolt-action rifle, prosecutor David Glynn told a Victorian Supreme Court jury on Tuesday.
"After he shot her, he behaved exactly as a guilty man would do - by covering his tracks," Mr Glynn said.
"He burned the tent which had her body and fled the state, to NSW, with the murder weapon in his possession."
Ms Pante had been staying in a large tent at the Geelong Showgrounds when she had arranged to meet Cross in order to buy drugs, the prosecutor said.
The 34-year-old brought the gun with him, although this wasn't uncommon for him to do.
"Why did he murder Ms Pante? We cannot place the motive - there was an argument, but we can't know why he did what he did," the prosecutor said.
Cross, he argued, shot her in the head, killing her instantly, then set the tent on fire from the inside and fled to Sydney.
Mr Glynn told the jury that once in NSW, the accused man messaged a friend saying: "When they get me I'm doing 10 years minimum".
"That's some serious trouble," the prosecutor said.
Defence barrister Glenn Casement said the accusation Cross murdered Ms Pante was a "ridiculous fiction" and "inherently incredible".
He argued that Cross had no reason to kill her and the gun wasn't in his hands when she was fatally shot.
Mr Casement also said Cross showed no signs of guilt after Ms Pante's death as he was seen walking around in plain sight at a shopping centre and booked NSW accommodation under his own name.
The trial continues before Justice Rita Incerti on Wednesday.
