Jessie Wilson murdered with wooden bat and strangled (ABC)

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A man who brutally attacked a young mother does not know why he murdered her, the South Australian Supreme Court has been told.

Jessie Wilson, 24, was killed in September 2012 and her naked body later found dumped by the side of a road at Hillier on Adelaide's northern outskirts.

Dwaine Francis Airey, 41, recently pleaded guilty to murder and revealed the woman's cause of death.

The court heard her badly decomposing body hindered the police investigation of the death, which Airey had intended when he stripped the body and left it exposed to the weather.

Prosecutor Mark Norman says Airey and Ms Wilson met at a hotel and went back to Airey's house here he suddenly attacked her.

Airey hit the woman on the head with a wooden bat and used cable ties and an electric cord to strangle her.

Mr Norman says Ms Wilson bit Airey on the arm as she tried in vain to fight back.

Airey's lawyer Bill Boucaut says his client does not know why he killed Ms Wilson, but now is ashamed of his actions.

"He cannot understand what caused him to do this," he said.

"He says although he was intoxicated when he assaulted Jessie Wilson, he still knew what he was doing, he just can't explain why.

"He is acutely aware of the enormous hurt and grief that he has caused people as a result of his actions. He is disgusted and ashamed of his actions."

Family tells of grief

Members of the young woman's family cried in court as they heard her final moments described in graphic detail.

In statements read to the court, they told of their deep sadness and ongoing grief.

One relative, Michelle Lynch, directly addressed Airey in her comments.

"You've left us with so many unanswered questions. We will never truly know what you did to her. We can only imagine the pain she endured before her death," she said.

"You have left a purely innocent child without her mother. We will never understand or comprehend why you took her from us."

Ms Wilson's mother says it was awful having to tell her granddaughter about the death.

"She was howling and sobbing for her mother ... it was just heartbreaking," the court was told.

"We really miss Jessie so much and wish that this never happened. Our lives will never be the same again. All I can do is reminisce about our beautiful daughter."

Justice Michael David will sentence Airey in July.

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