Nancy Kissel was a kind and loving woman with a special affinity for children, defense witnesses at her murder trial told the High Court Thursday.

They also told the court they had seen Nancy Kissel, who is accused of murdering her husband, with a black eye on a number of occasions prior to November 2, 2003 - the day Robert Kissel was murdered.

Mary Lamb, whose daughter is a friend of the Kissels' eldest daughter, testified she saw the defendant with a black eye when she came to pick up her daughter one day in late October, 2003.

When Nancy rolled down the car window to speak with Lamb, her attention immediately focused on her black eye. Lamb said Nancy had sunglasses sitting low on her nose and the bruising was ``evident'' above her right eye.

``Assuming she had a bump with her child,'' Lamb said she was about to joke and ask whether she had had an argument with her husband. But she thought twice and realised she did not know the accused well enough to make the joke.

Nancy Kissel, 41, is accused of serving her husband a drug-laced pink milkshake which left him unconscious as she bludgeoned him to death with a heavy metal ornament on November 2, 2003 in their Parkview apartment.

Robert Kissel's decomposing body was found wrapped in a rug and locked in a storeroom in the luxury Parkview residential complex at Tai Tam in the early hours of November 7.

Kissel has testified there was a furious fight that fatal night during which she feared for her life as her wealthy banker husband attacked her with a baseball bat.

She admits to killing him but says she cannot recall how she came to inflict five fatal wounds to the side of his head. She denies the charge of murder and is out on bail. The accused has also testified that she was subjected to routine sexual and physical abuse at the hands of a husband who was obsessed with power, money and success.

The prosecution alleges premeditation as she had shopped for drugs in the week before the alleged murder. Kissel testified that she was seeking help for sleeping problems, which resulted from the nightly abuse she had been subjected to.

Earlier Thursday, prosecutor Peter Chapman completed his cross-examination of Geertruida Samra, who had testified that she and Nancy became close friends when they worked closely for many years at Hong Kong International School (HKIS). She had noticed injuries on the accused around 2002 and also guaranteed Kissel's bail application.

Under questioning, Samra said she was not aware of Nancy's alleged suicide attempts or her adulterous relationship with a TV repairman in the United States. She said she did not know Kissel had been seeing marriage counsellors nor that she saw a doctor and a psychiatrist who prescribed her anti-depressants and sedatives. However, she was aware that Kissel ``had sleeping problems.''

Chapman asked why despite their ``close and enduring friendship,'' the accused had never mentioned to her the ``violence and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of Robert Kissel.''

Samra said she did not want to pry into what went on ``behind closed doors'' and Nancy must have known ``the expat community in Parkview is very gossipy.'' She may have wanted to protect herself and her family.

Samra noted an occasion when Nancy had a black eye on a day when she walked into her apartment to pick up her children. She said she saw Kissel the next morning waiting for the HKIS bus wearing sunglasses.

However, she could not recall any other injuries apart from three she testified to on Wednesday.

After the alleged murder, on November 4, 2003, Samra spoke to Kissel on the telephone and was told ``something terrible has happened to Rob,'' and that her father was coming, Samra said. She wanted to rush to Kissel's apartment but was told ``no, not now, we need to solve things as a family,'' according to Samra.

On November 5 and 6, Samra phoned Kissel but on both days, the maid said Nancy was out.

``Would you describe Nancy Kissel as a reasonably public sort of person - out and about getting involved?'' asked Chapman. Samra agreed.

Gabriel Ip, the transport director for HKIS, told the court he often saw the accused and that she was always friendly when she saw him. She was ``very kind, pleasant, always helpful to kids,'' Ip said.

Marcia Barham, the head music teacher at HKIS, said Kissel was ``one of the most outstanding parents that I had dealings with in my entire career.''

She said the accused always wore yellow or blue-tinted glasses indoors, but that did not surprise her since she had an artistic personality.

She said she did not see any injury on the accused in the five years they knew each other.

The trial continues today before Justice Michael Lunn.

albert.wong@singtaonewscorp.com