A MURDER accused's decision to detail his crime in a 12-page email showed he consciously and deliberately killed his victim, a jury has been told.
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Adam Margolis, 40, appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday for the closing arguments of his trial, which has been running since last month.
Mr Margolis has pleaded not guilty to murdering 26-year-old Mai-Yia Vang in his California Gully home sometime on February 24 or February 25, 2018.
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Prosecutors told the court after a "heated argument" between the couple, Mr Margolis choked or strangled Ms Vang until she died.
Mr Margolis then made plans to kill himself. He allegedly wrote and sent a 12-page email explaining why he killed Ms Vang.
In the email, Mr Margolis said Ms Vang had "overtly assaulted (him) so many times" and that he "lost control".
The email said he "blacked out" during the alleged argument and regained consciousness to see Ms Vang in a choke-hold.
The court heard Mr Margolis wrote he said sorry during the alleged murder and that he "tried to minimise (her) suffering".
Crown prosecutor Mark Rochford QC told the jury that email confirmed Mr Margolis consciously, deliberately, and voluntarily killed Ms Vang.
Mr Rochford said Mr Margolis' email made him guilty of murder and the 40-year-old's decision to give evidence in the trial was his way of "getting away from the consequences".
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The crown prosecutor said while Mr Margolis told the court he "overstated his culpability" in the email, that was a "vastly different" sentiment to unconsciously killing a woman.
Mr Rochford said Mr Margolis' inconsistencies between the 12-page email and his sworn evidence showed he "didn't want to take proper responsibility for what he did to Mai-Yia".
Defence counsel Bruce Walmsley QC said it was conceded there were "major inconsistencies" between the email and Mr Margolis' evidence.
But Mr Walmsley said jurors needed to put the email in the context of the situation.
Mr Walmsley said it was an "extraordinarily difficult time" for Mr Margolis and he wrote the email believing he would later kill himself.
The defence lawyer said while the email was "bizarre and weird in the extreme", Mr Margolis' sworn evidence came across as "sober and solemn".
But Mr Rochford said jurors should reject Mr Margolis' evidence.
"In the end, the crown has proved its case," Mr Rochford told the jury. "I now ask you to bring back a verdict that is just."
Mr Margolis was remanded in custody and will return to the Supreme Court tomorrow.
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