Jury retires in Qld torso murder case

A Brisbane jury has retired to decide if a woman who dumped her partner's headless torso on a roadside is a calculated killer or an abuse victim who panicked and tried to cover up his death.

Lindy Yvonne Williams, 60, has denied murdering George Gerbic on the Sunshine Coast in September 2013, but has admitted dumping and setting fire to his torso.

During her Supreme Court trial, defence lawyer Simon Lewis said Williams had caused Mr Gerbic's death, lied about it, and dismembered his body with a saw.

But he said the death was a terrible accident likely caused by Williams defending herself.

Williams has claimed Mr Gerbic hit his head on a kitchen benchtop after slipping on blood from a cut on her arm he had inflicted during a fight.

But the prosecution has argued she dismembered his body and lied about his whereabouts because she was was attempting to cover up his violent death at her hands.

"She's covering up something she has to cover up," crown prosecutor Todd Fuller QC told the jury.

"She can't explain the way George was dismembered because ... she was involved in his death."

Mr Fuller described her as "manipulative" and "calculating", suggesting she self-inflicted her arm injury.