If you made a mistake, ``she would hate you,'' said Maximina Macaraeg, the family's domestic helper at the time Merrill Lynch banker Robert Kissel was allegedly slain by his wife.

Prosecutor Peter Chapman asked Macaraeg to elaborate and she said the accused was prone to tantrums. She ``would bang the door, or whatever she saw, she would bang it.''

Nancy Kissel is accused of serving a milkshake laced with sedatives to her husband before beating him to death with a heavy metal figurine in 2003.

The victim's decomposing body was found wrapped in a rug and stashed in a storeroom at the Parkview apartments, Tai Tam, November 7, 2003. Kissel, 40, has pleaded not guilty and is out on bail.

Macaraeg, one of two former maids, testified Thursday about the Kissels' deteriorating marriage and strange activity in the days after the alleged murder, which the prosecution claims was the wife's attempt at a cover-up.

The victim, said Macaraeg, was ``good, calm, loving, kind.'' Nancy Kissel was also ``a good woman,'' but had a hot temper. Macaraeg said she had no idea about the banker's drinking habits and had never seen evidence of violence or injury done to the accused.

Describing the Kissels' marriage, she said, ``When I just arrived [in 2000] they were happy. But what I observed from the end of 2003, there was no sweetness anymore.

``I could see that they didn't talk together front to front and when Mr Kissel moved, say took a trip, Mrs Kissel would never go, say goodbye or ever kiss.''

When questioned by defense counsel, Macaraeg said she thought the accused favored the other helper. Her relationship with the accused, she said, was strictly employer and employee.

``You wouldn't have counted her as a close friend,'' said senior counsel Gary Plowman, and the accused ``would not have discussed any personal problems she might have had with you.'' Macaraeg agreed.

The other helper and Nancy Kissel had been friends, said Plowman, and Macaraeg only arrived in 2000, shortly after the birth of the third child. Other witnesses testified the accused had started to act distant and depressed after the birth of that child.

Macaraeg said that Wednesday, November 5, 2003, two days after the alleged murder, she saw two new carpets in the living room. As she went over to appreciate the new carpets she said she noticed an old rug rolled up at the back of the couch. ``When I saw it, I felt uncomfortable,'' said Macaraeg.

She said she asked the accused why the rug was so big and was told it was filled up with old pillowcases and bedsheets.

``I left. But my feeling was not right,'' said Macaraeg. ``I did not believe it.''

For the rest of the day, Macaraeg was ``not at ease'' and phoned the other maid to say ``Mrs Kissel might have done something wrong to Mr Kissel,'' but the other helper did not believe her.

According to Macaraeg, she could hear the accused ``packing the carpet'' because the sticky tape was making a noise. It took four men and a trolley from the Parkview maintenance department to carry the rug to the storeroom.

The Kissels' youngest son opened the door for the men and made it known that there was a foul odor as the carpet went past him, said Macaraeg.

``I said `come here,' and when I went to pull him away, I also smelled something,'' she said.

Shown a picture of the rolled-up carpet, Macaraeg said she recognized the white rope used to bind the rug together.

``How do you recognize the rope''? asked Chapman.

Macaraeg replied, ``That's what I bought in Stanley, as instructed by Mrs Kissel.''

Macaraeg also identified bloodstained towels and bedsheets found packed in relocation boxes but usually kept in the master bedroom.

Macaraeg spoke mostly in the Philippines dialect Ilocano and communicated through a translator.

The case continues this afternoon.