Aunt heard fatal north Qld DV attack

Anne Conway thought she heard her niece being struck and her head hitting concrete before she found the woman unresponsive in a bedroom.

But she didn't call for help straight away because she was scared of the woman's killer, an inquest has heard.

Elsie May Robertson, 39, was killed by her partner James Grannigan at Ms Conway's Cairns home in March 2013.

Ms Conway has told the inquest that Ms Robertson yelled out "don't hit me, don't hit me, I'm sore" after the couple started arguing in a bedroom early in the afternoon.

Thumping, yelling and crying was then heard on and off into the night as Ms Conway and her partner Alan Donovan watched TV shows such as Home and Away.

"I sang out from the lounge, `Elsie May, Elsie May are you alright'," Ms Conway said during emotional testimony on Wednesday.

"You could hear her head hitting against the concrete wall."

Ms Conway said she tried to get into the room on a number of occasions but was locked out.

When Grannigan finally let her in she found her niece face down with her legs hanging off a mattress.

There was blood coming from her mouth onto the bedding and the woman did not respond when shaken.

Records given to the coroner show police were called just after 9pm, though Ms Conway says she rang emergency services on a number of earlier occasions.

"I thought they were just having a sleep," Ms Conway said when asked why she didn't get help earlier.

"I was fearful of him (Grannigan) too."

Coroner Terry Ryan has previously heard two constables and a phone operator were disciplined after it took police more than an hour to respond to the incident.

Mr Grannigan is serving an eight-year jail sentence for Ms Robertson's manslaughter but hasn't explained what happened, while an autopsy was inconclusive.

The court heard he told Ms Robertson he wanted to "go" on the day she died.

"No, I love you. Don't leave me here," Ms Conway heard her niece reply.

The inquest continues.