Family violence murder preventable: mum

A woman murdered by her abusive former partner made 38 calls to police, fearing for her safety, in the weeks before she was killed, a court has heard.

The day before she was murdered Kelly Thompson, 43, told her parents she felt "safe" and was in control after leaving Wayne Wood and taking out an intervention order against him.

But on February 8 last year Ms Thompson was violently stabbed to death in her bed in a murder-suicide by Wood, who had days earlier told friends he was going to kill her and then himself.

Intervention orders were breached multiple times, including on the night of the murder when police did not attend despite calls from neighbours, a Victorian Coroner's Court has been told.

State Coroner Ian Gray will investigate the circumstances surrounding police handling of the intervention orders and breaches by Wood as part of the inquest.

Counsel assisting, Rachel Ellyard, told the court that in the weeks before her death Ms Thompson had called police 38 times to report breaches, but the calls stopped without reason on January 24.

"She died in her home, died in her bed. But she died violently," Ms Ellyard, said.

Ms Thompson's mother Wendy Thompson told the inquest her daughter had previously escaped abusive relationships and vowed she would never allow somebody to touch her again.

She left Wood in early 2014, four years into their relationship, after incidents where he tried to strangle her, and once when he tried to run her over with his car.

Mrs Thompson said her daughter kept much of the abuse to herself, and it was only through reading statements made for the inquest that she realised how frightened she must have been.

She said she still refused to believe her daughter was gone forever, and was left questioning how her death could have occurred.

Had Wood been jailed for breaching the order, Ms Thompson's death would have been prevented, she said.

"I'm so angry and what we've had to go through because I believe it didn't have to happen," she said.

Mrs Thompson said one detective had told her an intervention order was "just a piece of paper" and "down the track we're going to be shown to have stuffed up here".

"His honesty and acknowledgment meant his was the most important response we've ever received from the police regarding Kelly's murder," she told the court.