Milorad Zaric, 47, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday while he was withdrawing from drugs and alcohol, the court heard.
Magistrate Ross Betts rejected a request to extend the time for the delivery of a brief after Victoria Police said they needed extra weeks to go through the large amounts of evidence including forensic material, CCTV and drug analysis.
By the time police arrived the woman was already dead. (Rob Prezioso/AAP PHOTOS)
Zaric is remanded in custody and will appear at a committal on February 14.
Emergency services were called to a home on Cousin Drive, Bayswater, in east Melbourne on Saturday after receiving reports at 11.15am that a woman had been stabbed.
They arrived to find the 51-year-old woman dead at the home.
Police said three teenagers witnessed the attack, with one sustaining a minor injury.
"It's not a family violence incident," Senior Sergeant Chris Ellway said on Saturday.Â
"It is a tragic set of circumstances."
"Another woman lost at the hands of a man is just horrible."