In the months leading up to his wife's murder in March, Mr Walkington was constantly asking friends and neighbours if she was having an affair, the court heard.

As the Easter weekend drew nearer, 35-year-old Samantha Jane Walkington got sick of the allegations and left her husband, turning to a man her husband already thought she was sleeping with, the court was told.

Within 48 hours, the mother of five was found dead from multiple stab wounds at a property 50km north-west of Warren.

At a committal hearing in Dubbo Local Court yesterday, Mr Walkington, charged with murder, sat in the dock with his head in his hands as his wife's alleged lover William Andrew McKean took the witness stand.

Mr McKean told the court his association with the Walkingtons began in November 2001 when he first moved to 'Buttabone Station'.

He said he began visiting the couple on a regular basis after work at their home on the property but the relationship changed after last year's Christmas party.

"I was invited to stay at the Walkingtons's after the party," Mr McKean said.

"After we got back Ben came out and asked if I would have a threesome with his wife."

The court heard "some sexual contact" took place before Mr Walkington told Mr McKean: "I'll leave you here and you can f*** my missus."

"I didn't want to go along with it," Mr McKean said.

"I was put on the spot, I felt embarrassed to be there and I didn't perform, as such."

Mr McKean said he did not continue a sexual relationship with Mrs Walkington after that time and soon left the station to start work in Dubbo.

The court heard Mrs Walkington visited Mr McKean at work in Dubbo on two occasions and when she decided to leave her husband, she "turned up" at his caravan in Narromine.

"She said to me, ‘I've left Ben, I've been accused of having an affair so I might as well have one'," Mr McKean said. "She was upset and she wanted to have sex."

Mr McKean admitted to the court he spent the night with Mrs Walkington on March 26 before she returned home.

"She said she would go home and get her kids and go away for Easter - not long after I saw her I got a phone call (to say Mrs Walkington had died)," he said.

In the early hours of March 29, emergency services were called to the property but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A packed public gallery heard evidence from Mr and Mrs Walkington's next door neighbour, Donna Hayden. Mrs Hayden told the court she had been close friends with Mrs Walkington and that they often shopped together in Warren and Dubbo.

"I was talking about a friend of mine and I told Samantha that a woman who stayed with a man who hit her was asking for trouble," Mrs Hayden said.

"Then she told me that Ben had hit her."

Mrs Hayden added she knew the relationship between her neighbours was "not good".

"When we were in town he'd call her a couple of times - she felt like she had to be home before he got home," she said.

"She told me that Ben thought she was having an affair with my husband.

"I didn't want it all to blow up and fall back on Samantha, so I felt it would be easier if we didn't go over there as much anymore."

However under cross-examination, Mrs Hayden admitted there was nothing in Mr Walkington's behaviour that indicated he was jealous of her husband's relationship with his wife.

"I was only hearing her version," she said.

Mrs Hayden's husband Nigel also gave evidence at the committal hearing and told the court he considered Mr Walkington to be a good friend.

"He was very concerned (about his marriage)," he said. "Ben talked to me about it and asked what he could do to make her happy."

Magistrate Tom Hodgson said he was satisfied the evidence was capable of satisfying a jury the defendant had committed an indictable offence.

Mr Walkington was committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court in the Dubbo district at a date to be set.

Bail was formally refused.