Simon Gittany's alleged murder of Canadian beauty Lisa Harnum had left Aussies with haunting lessons of love, jealousy, obsession and suicide.

Murder or Suicide

Mr Gittany argued in court that Ms Harnum jumped off from the 15th floor of their luxury apartment in Sydney, versus the accusation of murder lodged against him at the New South Wales Supreme Court. According to Mr Gittany, his then girlfriend climbed the balcony, threatening him to committing suicide. She carelessly fell from the balcony. He said he tried to save her by leaning over and hauling her back to safety.

However, documents heard in court about incidents leading to Ms Harnum's death spoke of a woman trapped in a flame of love and obsession which all leads to her being murdered.

A hidden camera recorded a chilling scene when Ms Harnum pounded a neighbor's door in July 2011, screaming for help. Mr Gittany then hauled Ms Harnum back inside their apartment with his hands over her mouth.

The neighbor then heard Ms Harnum's "single, bone-chilling scream."

Few minutes after, a passer-by saw a man dropped something off the balcony.

As for the hidden camera which caught this shocking truth, Mr Gittany installed it himself to keep an eye of Ms Harnum's every move. He also bought a computer programme to track on Ms Harnum's text messages.

When it isn't love anymore

In an iPhone-recorded conversation between Ms Harnum and Mr Gittany, she told him of her suffocation.

"All day, I don't speak. I have nothing else to do in my life, I don't have anybody else. I don't do anything without checking with you first and getting your permission."

But Mr Gittany reasoned that everything was just because he loved her so much.

In text messages to friends, despite having a marriage proposal from Mr Gittany, Ms Harnum laments her loss of independence.

Ms Harnum's mother told the court that she received text from her daughter, saying that her relationship with him has "turned into nightmare."

In 2010, when Ms Harnum was able to come home to Canada, her mother observed that she was no longer herself and that she was very much consumed with deep sadness.

"She told me he was always very controlling and wanted to always know where she was, what she was doing, who she was with, what she was wearing," Ms Harnum's mother told the court.

"We would be watching a movie and Simon would keep calling. It was family time, it was interrupted by him. Please don't let any guy talk to you and please don't look at any guy because your eyes should only gaze on me, the one."

Obssession

According to court documents, Mr Gittany forced Ms Harnum to leave her job as hairdresser, to cut her tie from friends and to set her eyes exclusively on him because her eyes "should only gaze on me, the one."

Ms Harnum' mother told court that Mr Gittany would also force Ms Harnum to kneel before him to vow that "she would do as she was told."

Mr Gittany also hired a personal trainer for Ms Harnum to stop her from going to the gym where other men might look at her.

Her relationship with Mr Gittany had turned her to a "mere shell of a person."

And now that Ms Harnum was gone, Mr Gittany had always been accompanied in court by new girlfriend Rachelle Louise, 24, model and actress, and a chilling spitting image of Ms Harnum.