Be thorough, methodical: 'Killer's note'

EDS: Note language in ninth par.

By Lauren Farrow

SYDNEY, Feb 5 AAP - Gaffer tape, a blow torch and garbage bags were among items listed on a note penned by accused murderer Colin Maxwell Farrow, telling him to "be thorough and methodical".

But when police confronted him with the find, he said he didn't know what the list written in his handwriting related to, only that it looked like "murder tools".

Farrow is accused of murdering drug dealer Linda Stevens, whose body was found by police in the boot of her abandoned car at Corrimal in Wollongong's north in April 2013.

She was wrapped in bedding, her hands were tied behind her with rope and she was gagged with gaffer tape.

Farrow, who has pleaded not guilty on the basis of mental illness, is facing a judge-alone trial.

In a police interview played to the Supreme Court on Thursday Farrow repeatedly tells officers he can't remember details surrounding her death.

"I remember seeing blood on my face, that is all I remember," he tells them.

When police ask him about a note found at his home during a search, which lists gaffer tape, blow torch, knives, a spade and garbage bags, Farrow picks it up and reads it.

Seeing that his note states "be thorough, be methodical", Farrow says "I tell you what, this has been anything but. .... f***".

Farrow tells the cops the note appears to be a list of "murder tools".

When the officers suggest he cleaned up Ms Stevens' home in a bid to cover his tracks, Farrow replies: "Someone who is mentally retarded could have done better than that."

The court has previously heard Ms Stevens regularly sold the drug "ice" to Farrow.

On the afternoon of her death, the crown says Farrow was seen going into a hardware store and buying a pick and shovel.

About 20 minutes later, he drove into a ditch.

At this point, the crown says he abandoned his plan to bury her body and instead left the scene carrying a suitcase.

He was arrested days later.

The trial continues.