A man charged with a raft of serious domestic violence offences has been denied bail after his lawyer argued the prosecution case was weakened by his estranged partner's death.
Danny Zayat appeared in Liverpool Local Court on Friday morning, where prosecutors told the court he was a suspect in the homicide investigation over Tatiana Dokhotaru's death.
The 28-year-old is facing 18 domestic violence charges against his former partner, whose body was found inside her Liverpool unit on Saturday, May 27.
The charges include two counts of choking without consent, stalking or intimidation intending to cause fear of physical harm, and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order.
A group of Mr Zayat's family and supporters attended Friday's bail hearing, along with Ms Dokhotaru's friend and family spokesperson Tendayi Chivunga.
Mr Zayat's supporters could be heard swearing and yelling after he was denied bail, with sheriff's officers intervening while police escorted Ms Chivunga from the building.
The court heard prosecutors were likely to "upgrade" his charges following the results of a post-mortem.
Mr Krayem told the court his client should be released on bail and placed under strict house arrest in the meantime, arguing the case against him was not strong and he has no prior criminal convictions.
"The complainant is unavailable to give evidence against Mr Zayat," he told the court.
"That obviously places the prosecution at a disadvantage."
The police prosecutor, Sergeant Wilson, told the court he was concerned Mr Zayat would be able to "interfere with witnesses" if granted bail.
He said the witnesses would testify to "a clear long cycle of violence".
"It was an abusive relationship, a coercive, controlling relationship," he said.
The court heard Ms Dokhotaru lost consciousness and suffered "bruising that lasted three weeks" resulting from one of the alleged choking incidents.
Magistrate Paul Lyon agreed the prosecution had "a strong case" and denied Mr Zayat bail.
"It's an extremely serious matter," he told the court.
"I do not accept the submission that because the complainant is deceased, that weakens their case."
Mr Zayat will remain behind bars until his next court appearance in August.
A critical incident inquiry has been launched by police to examine their response time, after it was revealed Ms Dokhotaru first called authorities late on Friday night, May 26.
Police said the woman told triple-0 operators she was being assaulted by someone demanding money, but said she did not leave her details with officers.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said police reached the apartment block at 3am on Saturday.
He said the unit block had 297 apartments, and police databases had different addresses attached to the woman's phone number, which made it harder to find her.
Officers found Ms Dokhotaru after a neighbour called emergency services on Saturday night, 20 hours after the woman's initial call for help.
