A 33-year-old expectant mother of twins was found dead on a bathroom floor after being stabbed more than 60 times in the face and body by her partner, a court heard.
Amber O'Brien, who was pregnant with twins at the time of her death, was discovered 'cold to the touch' on the bathroom floor of her partner's flat in Blackley, north Manchester, on April 19 this year, naked and covered in a blue tarpaulin lying in 'pools of water'.
Stephan Garner, 31, admitted killing Ms O'Brien at Manchester Crown Court - but denies murdering her.
The trial heard that Garner killed Ms O'Brien after the pair had an argument.
Her body was left in the eighth-floor flat where she had been living with Garner, the father to her nine-week-old unborn twins.
Nigel Power KC, opening the case for the prosecution, said: 'How Amber died, only the defendant who is alive can say.
'She had been stabbed repeatedly in the neck and face. The pathologist recorded more than 60 separate stab, incised and puncture wounds - 32 of them to her face and neck.'
Prosecutors said Garner killed Ms O'Brien in the early hours of April 18.
The body of Amber O'Brien, 33, (pictured) was discovered in a block of flats in Blackley, Greater Manchester, shortly before 6pm on April 19 following reports of a disturbance
Mr Power said of Garner: 'He then spent the next day and a half stripping her, washing her body, bleaching his flat, bagging up her bloodstained clothing, destroying her telephone and getting rid of his own, before the truth caught up with him.'
He allegedly told a relative he had been 'cleaning up' the bathroom after buying bleach and scouring sponges from Poundland.
Police forced their way into the flat just after 6pm the following day, after Garner allegedly told his cousin that he'd 'stabbed her in the neck twice', the court heard.
Garner claimed: 'She had been threatening me.'
Jurors heard Garner, of Somerton Court, Blackley, pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.
They were told that the pair had been in a relationship for about three months prior to Ms O'Brien's death.
Ms O'Brien told her brother she and Garner 'argued a lot over silly things', and that she was 'unhappy about his mood swings', jurors were told.
The court heard that two weeks before her death, she told her sibling of Garner: 'Something ain't fitting with me.'
Pictured: Police at the scene of a cordon at Somerton Court tower block on Broadmoss Drive in Blackley on Sunday, April 19
There was also said to have been a 'running dispute' over Ms O'Brien's flat in Middleton.
Jurors were told Garner wanted her to give it up and move in with him, but that she felt 'pressured'.
But she moved into the flat in Blackley three weeks prior to her death, jurors were told.
Mr Power said the 'friction was not all one way in the relationship', and that Ms O'Brien could be heard threatening Garner on an audio recording.
Prosecutors argue that 'doesn't come anywhere close' to justify Garner's actions. The court heard that in the early hours of April 18, Ms O'Brien called her brother and said: 'I can't stand him, I'm not staying here.'
She left the flat but later returned with Garner, it was said. Garner was arrested at about 7pm on April 19. When officers attended the flat they noticed an 'overpowering smell of bleach', the jury was told.
He was interviewed twice by police and made no comment on both occasions, prosecutors said.
At trial, Garner is expected to say that he did not intend to cause Ms O'Brien serious bodily harm and that he was experiencing a loss of control at the time.
He is expected to allege that he tried to leave the flat in the early hours of April 18, but that Ms O'Brien punched him and was holding a knife, and told him the 'babies had been aborted'.
The trial, which is expected to last seven days, continues.
Ms O'Brien's family paid tribute to her as a 'beautiful soul' when she died, adding that she was a 'devoted daughter and sister'.
In a statement issued through Greater Manchester Police on Saturday, Ms O'Brien's family said: 'We are deeply saddened by the loss of Amber.
'Her passing has left us devastated, and she will be fondly remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
'Amber was known for her warm smile and her natural ability to lift others up.
'She had a truly kind heart and made everyone around her feel valued and appreciated.
'She was a devoted daughter and sister and a beautiful soul whose bright spirit brought joy, laughter, and comfort wherever she went.
'Our hearts are broken. Amber's memory will live on with us forever.'