Bizarre murder scene for US actress

For six days American actress Joyce Germain lay dead beneath a pile of towels, cushions, a foot spa and a construction hat, decomposing in the bathroom of her inner Sydney flat.

It was a bizarre scene, rivalled only by the cast of characters who will be called to give evidence about her unsolved death.

Opening an inquest into the 59-year-old's death in Sydney on Monday, counsel assisting the coroner, Rebbecca Becroft, said the circumstances could only be described as "strange and bizarre".

Ms Germain's large frame was buried beneath various household items, including bedding, towels and a blue foot spa.

An electric iron cord was wrapped about her neck and a knife and razor were found near her body, but there were no discernible wounds, Sgt Becroft said.

Her dress was lifted above her head and a clothes peg had been attached to her genitals, with lipstick smeared over the vanity basin, walls and the body.

A toaster hung from the shower railing, and atop the pile obscuring her body sat a construction hat.

Two autopsies could not determine a cause of death, and the forensic pathologist deemed it to be either suicide or natural causes.

"I indicated to the forensic pathologist that I respected his position, but I still believed that the matter was very suspicious and that I would continue my investigation into it," the chief investigating officer, Lawrence Milburn, told Glebe Coroner's Court.

Four people soon came to the interest of police, he said.

First was "Kiwi John" Marsh, who was friends with Ms Germain and her upstairs neighbour Robert Kimminga.

When police stormed Ms Germain's flat they found a handwritten note in her mailbox from a woman named Brenda, warning her to "beware of Kiwi John".

As officers examined the crime scene, Mr Kimminga leaned over his balcony railing and declared he "knew who did it".

Detective Senior Constable Milburn said he went up to question him, and was confronted by an array of leather, whips, chains and sex toys.

"You can be my master any time, come round after work," Mr Kimminga, a self-proclaimed sado-masochist, allegedly said.

After urging police to speak with Kiwi John, Mr Kimminga received a death threat and three silver bullets in an envelope, Det Milburn said.

"Robert, your boyfriend told us you are a nark and you know what we do to dogs, c**t," the note read.

Rumours were circulating in Darlinghurst that Ms Germain had been tortured and died a violent death, and Kiwi John was allegedly bragging that he was responsible, Det Milburn said.

A local prostitute, Kim Sharwood, was also boasting that she'd "done the old girl over", he told the court.

Suspicion also fell upon Chady Wazir, an ice addict, who told police he'd discovered Ms Germain's body after going to her apartment to shoot up.

His DNA was found on the knife, toaster and on a used syringe, as well as on the construction hat.

Det Milburn said Mr Wazir was known to wear such a hat on "ice binges", and had been discovered wearing one, half-naked and bloodied, in a portable construction site toilet, some months earlier.

The neighbourhood was notorious for sex workers, drug takers and robberies, and Ms Germain herself suffered mental health problems stemming from heavy LSD use in the 1960s.

However, Det Milburn said she was living a stable, normal life at the time of her death.

The inquest continues.