A man accused of causing his partner's death when she suffered a catastrophic head injury falling from his ute has told a court "she was the love of me life" as he pleaded not guilty to a fresh charge of murder.
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Michael O'Connell, 42, was charged in April with manslaughter, culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm and three counts of perverting the course of justice.
The Monash man appeared via phone in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday when he was charged with murder before Shane Drumgold SC, Director of Public Prosecutions, withdrew the original five charges.
O'Connell was arraigned on the fresh charge to which he pleaded not guilty while he started crying.
"Absolutely not guilty," O'Connell said.
"She's the love of me life."
No updated or amended alleged facts by the prosecution were tendered on Tuesday.
Alleged facts tendered during his first court appearance state that about 4am on April 15, he was at his partner's premises - allegedly in breach of bail conditions not to contact her - in Melba where they argued for nearly one hour before he jumped into a Mitsubishi Triton.
His partner, Danielle Jordan who is also known as Danielle Patricia Fleming, then jumped on the bonnet as he drove off.
Another woman, an associate of his partner who was with the pair, walked in front of the ute to try to stop it.
The woman on the road had to take evasive action after the defendant allegedly accelerated past.
A short time later, the woman heard "a loud screech of tyres then a loud thump".
She later described it as "sounding like something heavy, like a body, hitting the road'," the alleged facts state.
She ran towards the noise and saw O'Connell picking up his partner's body, "with blood covering both of them" and "a pool of blood" on the ground.
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The defendant then took his partner to the emergency department at Calvary Public Hospital with CCTV capturing her appearing "to be limp and unresponsive".
His partner was transferred to the Canberra Hospital's intensive care unit where examinations determined she was unlikely to survive from the catastrophic head injury.
Police later that day went to the scene and saw "a dried pool of what appeared to be blood, as well as a trail of blood droplets on the road".
O'Connell, who the court previously heard worked full time at a country club, was arrested at the Canberra Hospital before he told police he "had saved her".
"She fell down the stairs so I took her to hospital," he is accused of saying.
He told police in an interview that he was aware of breaching court orders when he went to his partner's place and denied consuming any illicit substances or alcohol that night.
He said they had an argument because he wanted to leave because of concerns he was breaching orders.
O'Connell said during his attempted getaway, he stopped and exited the Triton before his partner jumped on the rear tray then fell.
Following the arraignment in court on Tuesday, magistrate James Stewart said he "can hear that you're upset" and that "I'm just concerned about your welfare".
"You're not going to hurt yourself are you?" he said.
O'Connell again said she was the love of his life.
"I loved her so much," he said.
Defence lawyer Sam McLaughlin interrupted to stop O'Connell from speaking further.
O'Connell is scheduled to front court again on Thursday for a forensic procedure application before returning in July.
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