Christopher Cullen allegedly threatened to kill his wife Comrie so often that it almost became a joke.
"He had threatened to slit her throat, he had threatened to kill her regularly," Comrie Cullen's boss Christina Arciuli told the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday.
"In a way, it had become, between us, a bit of a laugh, but not in a funny way, how many times she was going to be killed in one week."
Ms Cullen's body was found slumped over and face down in the car park of a fishing club at Taren Point on January 22, 2014. Her throat had been cut and her face was bruised.
Her husband, 51-year-old Christopher Cullen, has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the basis of self-defence and provocation.
In the months before her death, Ms Cullen told her boss at the Sylvania Waters beauty salon that her husband was a bully, who called her a "slut" and a "whore", and forced her to have sex with him.
Ms Arciuli cried in the witness box as she described the "consistently loveless" marriage.
"She told me that her sexual life was forced upon her when he wanted it, that she would pretend to be asleep sometimes.
"He had forced himself upon her sexually many, many times. I find that just so sad."
Ms Arciuli said money seemed to be a point of tension in the marriage, but she understood that Mr Cullen had stopped his wife from working full-time.
She said she co-signed a lease for a unit for Ms Cullen after their separation in October 2013, knowing it was unlikely her part-time wages would cover the rent.
"I felt there was no option. Somebody had to help her."
The trial heard from several salon employees, who said Mr Cullen dumped her belongings outside the salon after they split up, and held up signs accusing her of sleeping with clients.
The court has previously heard that Mr Cullen believed his wife was having an affair with a client named Shannon.
Shane Theodore told the court he received text messages from Mr Cullen, calling him Shannon.
One of the messages said: "Hey dickhead, no good chatting up Comrie, you have her good luck."
But Mr Theodore said he was only Ms Cullen's client, and he saw her at the salon or in her home to have his back and shoulders waxed.
Defence barrister Winston Terracini, SC, told the jury they would hear medical and forensic evidence that could support Mr Cullen's claims that his wife stabbed him, and he acted in self-defence, albeit excessively.
Mr Terracini explained that his client was also relying on the partial defence of provocation, which did not justify the killing.
"You will hear that this couple fell within the … standards of ordinary domestic husband and wife, living in a normal environment in the city of Sydney.
"But marriages fall apart … and emotions, at times, run very high."
The trial continues before Justice Ian Harrison.
