Lindy "Kimmy" Lucena, 64, was beaten to death by her partner of five years, Robert Karl Huber, behind a Salvation Army building in the NSW town of Ballina on January 3, 2023.
With Huber jailed in September for manslaughter, the spotlight turned to NSW Police and the circumstances surrounding its reaction to a triple-zero call reporting the attack.
Police lawyers maintain a more wide-ranging search was not needed and it would not have prevented Ms Lucena's death.Â
"Ms Lucena died at or about 7.20pm, some 35 minutes before police started searching," said the police submission to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission published on Wednesday.
If a larger search had found Mr Lucena's body, her survival would have depended on getting to a hospital for medical treatment, the submission said.
But it would have taken a significant amount of time and might not have saved her life anyway.
Police attacked assertions aired publicly that their response was slow.
"On the available evidence, a theory that maintains causation between the adequacy of the search and Ms Lucena's death is not credible," police said.
Counsel assisting the commission Emma Sullivan backed the police actions on the night.
The available evidence showed the officers involved were hardworking, professional and had undertaken their jobs to the best of their abilities at a time of significant pressure, she said.
However, she also said an urgent review of the police communication systems was needed.
On the night of Ms Lucena's death, police were called about 7pm by a passer-by alerting them to a man "bashing the hell out of his woman" at the back of the Salvation Army store in Ballina.
The incident was supposed to be broadcast to officers within 90 seconds and then re-broadcast every 60 seconds, but it was not aired until 7.10pm, again at 7.24pm and at 7.34pm.
Officers finally arrived at the Salvation Army premises at 7.55pm and spent a total of three minutes patrolling the area from their vehicle.
Police would not discover Ms Lucena had been killed for another four-and-a-half hours.
The inquiry has heard that the police dispatcher who broadcast the initial job to officers fell short of his requirements, and the system used to track jobs as they were reported was no longer fit for purpose.
Police in the area were dealing with up to 12 jobs at the time.
NSW Police has opposed the review but accepted elements of the system need to change.
Huber, 69, was jailed for at least nine years after being found guilty of a vicious assault behind the store where the homeless couple lived.
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