The 49-year-old Whorouly woman’s neighbour, Michael Cardamone, faced Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, accused of her violent murder.

In the first time details of the death have been made public, crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert said Ms Chetcuti Verbunt's cause of death was a combination of blunt force trauma and being burned alive.

He said Cardamone, 49, allegedly went to the woman’s home at 9.20pm on January 12, 2016 and left 10 minutes later.

James and Lorraine Neary were at the hotel the night Ms Chetcuti Verbunt disappeared and said they clearly saw a white Holden Commodore leave her home at 9.30pm and drive around the corner into Cardamone’s driveway.

During the next hour, he allegedly forced her to ingest a small amount of animal tranquilisers as a sedative, then bound and gagged her, and caused fractures to her skull and ribs.

Ms Chetcuti Verbunt's body was found down a track off Croppers Creek Road near Lake Buffalo on January 17 with duct tape wrapped five times around her neck, plus two cable ties.

Mr Silbert said the body was also tortured and injected with battery acid after death, and had spinal injuries allegedly caused by being run over by Cardamone’s car.

“He then set about constructing an elaborate charade, designed to show an innocent disappearance. He obtained possession of the deceased’s mobile phone, which he used in the course of constructing her disappearance,” he said.

“The accused continued to give lying accounts to police to derail their investigation and fabricated a story that he had been kidnapped, as part of him staging the deceased’s disappearance.

“Ultimately, the accused took police to the location where the deceased’s body had already been found.”

The prosecution alleged Cardamone washed his car three times in Myrtleford to cover up the evidence and told police a series of false stories.

Friends and family of Ms Chetcuti Verbunt packed out the courtroom and were in tears as details were read aloud during the first of three days of evidence.

Cardamone, dressed in a green prison tracksuit and handcuffed in front of his body, kept a straight face throughout the evidence.

Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine head of forensic science Dimitri Gerostamoulos said 0.03mg/L of xylazine was found in Ms Chetcuti Verbunt's stomach.

He said the drug was normally an animal tranquilliser, but even in small doses could also affect humans.

“This drug is likely to cause drowsiness, could have caused unconsciousness and in some cases can cause death,” Dr Gerostamoulos said.

He said a low concentration in the woman's blood could have been altered because her body was so decomposed.

There was also evidence Ms Chetcuti Verbunt breathed in petrol fumes while was being burned.

“It's quite a volatile substance,” Dr Gerostamoulos said.

Forensic pathologist Malcolm Dodd said the time of death could have been any point over the few days before the body was discovered.

He had not been expecting the results of the CAT scan in the case of a burned body found in the bush.

“I immediately saw a variety of fractures,” Mr Dodd said.

“The fractures looks very much like a motor vehicle accident.”

He said fractures to the pelvis and ribs were consistent with the body being run over after death.

But the skull fracture was inflicted while Ms Chetcuti Verbunt was alive and could have been life-threatening itself.

Mr Dodd said there was no evidence of sexual assault.

​Kayla Hawkins was driving home to Wangaratta from work in Myrtleford about 10pm on January 12 last year when she saw a red Citroen she would later read in the newspaper belonged to Ms Chetcuti Verbunt.

She called Crime Stoppers to report seeing the car about 15 kilometres out of Myrtleford when it took the corner too fast from Whorouly Road onto Great Alpine Road, veering onto the wrong side.

“It was night time so I didn’t see anyone,” she said.

Early the next morning at about 3am taxi driver Mick Ralston received a call to pick up a man from Buffalo River Road, he later identified as Cardamone.

The passenger accepted the quoted amount of $120 for the trip back to his Whorouly home.

“He said his car broke down and he didn’t want to disturb his friends in Whorouly, that’s why he got a taxi,” Mr Ralston said.

“He wasn’t overly talkative.”

Edward George was with Cardamone when the man allegedly set Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s red Citroen alight, but he claims he thought he was helping settle a disagreement with a drug dealer, not cover up a murder.

The burnt out car was discovered in Halls Road, Myrtleford on January 14, two days after the missing woman was last seen.

Mr George said the alleged murderer would “not stop ringing” him at the time and agreed to go along as the car was destroyed.

Then he found out about Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s disappearance via the news.

Mr George denied comments from other witnesses in the case that he was worried about going to jail because he helped Cardamone, who he had known for about eight years.

“I haven’t done any deals - I’m here to tell the truth and I don’t care which way you take it,” he said.

“I’m here to see justice be done.

“He’s a scumbag and he should get his right whack.”

Mr George admitted he was taking speed at the time and had sourced ice for Cardamone and originally lied to police about what he had seen because he was overwhelmed.

The three-day committal hearing in Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court will continue on Thursday.