A High Court trial has heard the night Christchurch woman Angela Blackmoore was murdered was also the first time her partner left her home alone.
Laurie Anderson took the witness stand on Tuesday and explained he was called into work at the last minute on the night she died.
For nearly three decades Laurie Anderson has been on a journey to find justice for his ex-partner Angela Blackmoore, who was murdered in their home 28 years ago.
"We were engaged to be married," he said.
The Crown alleges David Peter Hawken ordered the hit and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum used her friendship to help give the killer access.
August 17, 1995 was a Thursday. Anderson was called in to work on what would normally be a night off, to cover a librarian shift from 8pm until 11pm.
"Angela didn't know until at least after 4 o'clock herself as well because I never told her earlier," he said.
Both defence counsels questioned who else would've known she was home alone.
"No one else should've known that, no," Anderson said.
When he arrived home just after 11pm, he found the 21-year-old mother-to-be dead in the kitchen.
She had suffered 39 wounds to her body.
"I noticed rigour mortis was already setting in so she had been dead a while," Anderson said.
In the days before her death, Blackmoore had been getting prank phone calls threatening to report her to authorities over her getting the benefit.
"She said 'are you David Hawken on the phone?' But there was no proof it was. She just told me she thought she recognised the voice," Anderson said.
Both Hawken and Wright-Meldrum deny any involvement in Angela Blackmoore's murder.
