The mother of missing man Michael McGrath has told the jury the man accused of killing her son used to call her 'mum'.
Adrienne McGrath was in distress when she took the stand, requesting a screen to shield her from seeing David Benbow.
She had a victim support person sit with her while she gave evidence.
Former prison guard, 54-year-old Benbow, denies murdering his friend in May 2017. The Crown case is that he asked Michael McGrath to help him with a job at his home on May 22 and shot him with a firearm that has since gone missing.
However, the defence says police have had tunnel vision with their investigation after Benbow was accused of murder by his ex-partner Joanna Green from the outset. She was in a romantic relationship with the victim, a fact the Crown says was a catalyst for the killing.
Adrienne McGrath told the jury her son and Benbow had been friends for a long time. She said, "he was always pleasant enough…Mr Benbow would sometimes knock on my kitchen door and say gidday, mum."
But she says after her son's disappearance, many of his friends got in touch with her, but Benbow did not.
The alarm was raised on Tuesday May 23 when 49-year-old builder Michael McGrath failed to arrive for his weekly dinner with his mum and younger brother Simon.
Adrienne McGrath says it was highly unusual for him not to make it.
Just before 7pm, Green called her house asking if she's seen Michael McGrath. When she said no, Green said she was coming around.
When she got there "she burst in, saying, 'I hope David hasn't done anything to him'."
At that time, her son hadn't told her he was in a relationship with Green, although the pair knew each other. She’d knitted for both of her and Benbow's daughters when they were babies.
She told the court Michael McGrath had mentioned that Benbow spoke to Green and the girls in an aggressive way. "Michael said he was never happy and always grumbling."
Green split up with Benbow in February 2017 and moved out in March. Michael McGrath helped her shift.
The case before Justice Jonathan Eaton is ongoing in the High Court in Christchurch, with Green expected to take the stand tomorrow.
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