Prosecutors have detailed previously unheard allegations against accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards, including claims he evolved over years from a night-time prowler with a fetish for women's clothing into a violent rapist and then triple murderer.

Prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo today revealed the "factual matrix" they want to use to prove Mr Edwards was behind attacks on women in 1988 and 1995, and the murders of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon between 1996 and 1997.

Prosecutors are trying to persuade Supreme Court Justice Stephen Hall to allow them to use "propensity evidence" when Mr Edwards stands trial over the allegations in July.

During an outlining of that evidence, there were revelations Mr Edwards attacked a social worker at Hollywood Hospital in May 1990, while he was in the building carrying out work in his role as a technician with Telstra.

Ms Barbagallo said Mr Edwards had inquired with the woman about using the toilet, before bursting out and attacking her from behind, placing a piece of material over her mouth and dragging her backwards.

The woman managed to struggle, kicking Mr Edwards hard, managing to escape from his grip.

Security officers detained Mr Edwards and when police arrived they found cable ties in his pocket, Ms Barbagallo said.

Mr Edwards pleaded guilty to common assault and was sentenced to two years’ probation the following month, and he kept his job at Telstra.

Two years earlier, in 1988, Ms Barbagallo alleged Mr Edwards was behind a series of "escalating" "prowler" offences in Huntingdale, where he lived with his family as a 19-year-old man.

It was during this time, the court was told, that Mr Edwards had a "fetish" for women's underwear and garments, and that several pieces of clothing were reported missing from clotheslines in the suburb in mid-January 1988.

Camera Icon Claremont Serial Killer accused Bradley Robert Edwards. Credit: Supplied

Ms Barbagallo said in the weeks that followed, a male assailant repeatedly broke into homes in the area, with witnesses reporting the male culprit was wearing a flowing kimono or dressing gown, and on one occasion he had underwear on his head.

She alleged on February 15, 1988, Mr Edwards broke into a Huntingdale home through a rear door and attacked a woman while she slept after unplugging the phone line and closing her parents' bedroom door.

Mr Edwards allegedly sat on her back as she slept on her stomach, before shoving fabric in her mouth. The woman struggled and the accused fled.

The victim said the attacker was wearing "something like a white nightie and was as tall as the door frame".

The attacker dropped a kimono - earlier stolen from a clothesline - and a pair of black knotted stockings, with prosecutors claiming the kimono was found to have Mr Edwards' DNA on it.

Ms Barbagallo said "central to the State's case" was five alleged occasions where witnesses reported a "sole male driver" driving a Telstra vehicle around the Claremont area offering women lifts.

One woman said the man told her he was a Telstra technician and he was heading to Cottesloe Beach "looking for a damsel in distress just like her".

Ms Barbagallo said when he dropped the woman off in Innaloo, the man grabbed the woman at least once and tried to kiss her, with the woman rebuffing the advance.

The prosecutor said in all of the incidents, witnesses and victims described vehicles which Mr Edwards had access to for work and personal use through his job with Telstra.

Ms Barbagallo said one of the incidents happened on January 27 or 28 1996 – a day or two after Ms Spiers went missing.

A male was seen sitting in a “1996-type sedan” with a Telstra logo on Stirling Terrace in Claremont and “stared at a woman for about 60 seconds” as she waited for a taxi, the court was told.

Revealing details of the rape Mr Edwards is accused of carrying out at Karrakatta Cemetery on February 12, 1995, Ms Barbagallo told the court the 17-year-old victim was targeted as she walked home after a night out at Club Bayview in Claremont.

As the teenager walked through Rowe Park, Mr Edwards is alleged to have pushed her to the ground before binding her wrists and carrying her to a light-coloured vehicle.

The attacker allegedly tied up the victim's feet and put a hood over her head before driving to an isolated part of the cemetery and placing her on the ground and sexually assaulting her.

The hood was then allegedly removed from her head before she was sexually assaulted again and left on the ground - with the attacker leaving before returning and dropping her in bushes.

The victim waited until the attacker's vehicle left before, still naked from the waist down and bound by the wrists, she went to Hollywood Hospital for help.

Intimate swabs were taken, and a subsequent analysis showed some of the DNA matched the accused man.

Ms Barbagallo said a security guard saw a white van with Telecom markings on it drive past the hospital around the time of the alleged attack.

"The complainant does not know the accused, he is a complete stranger to her," Ms Barbagallo said.

The first of the Claremont murder victims, Ms Spiers, disappeared after requesting a taxi at a phone box to Mosman Park about 2am after a night out in Claremont on January 27, 1996.

The court was told "blood curdling screams" were heard in Mosman Park about 2.30am that morning.

A "loud, high-pitched scream" was also heard about the time Ms Rimmer was abducted in June 1996 after a night out at the Continental Hotel, the court was told.

Ms Spiers' body has never been found, but the court was told fibres consistent with coming from the work car Mr Edwards was driving at the time were found in Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon's hair.

Ms Glennon had injuries consistent with her neck being cut.

A "mixed-profile" DNA matching Mr Edwards and Ms Glennon was found underneath the victim's fingernails, Ms Barbagallo said.

A standard issue knife given to Telstra employees was found in a Telstra box in the Wellard area, the court was told, with two similar knives found in Mr Edwards’ toolbox when he was arrested in December 2016.

And when police raided Mr Edwards' house, they allegedly found "separated and violent" pornography and movies, described as "extreme, abnormal and depraved" by Ms Barbagallo.

Details also emerged about Mr Edwards’ alleged tendency to masturbate into a sandwich bag before tying it up with a women’s hair tie.

Ms Barbagallo said when police searched Mr Edwards’ home, they found a box containing homemade sex toys and women’s undergarments that had holes cut out for male genitalia, with DNA on those items matching Mr Edwards.

She said this demonstrated that his fetish for women’s clothing was “entrenched and long-standing”. Ms Barbagallo said “this is a man who has evolved”.

She claimed Mr Edwards was “prowling” in areas familiar to him, his home suburbs Huntingdale and the western suburbs – where he worked and socialised.

Stories and letters that he “possessed, authored or contributed to” were also allegedly found, including “Chloe’s story”, which is about the abduction and sexual assault of a woman.

Ms Barbagallo said the story had “striking similarities” to what they say happened in the lead-up to the Karrakatta rape in 1995.

Asked by Justice Stephen Hall when the stories – also referred to as “Sophie’s” story and “Nicola’s” story – were created, Ms Barbagallo said she could not say but they were altered several times between July 17, 2014 and December 11, 2016 – just 11 days before Mr Edwards’ arrest.

Justice Hall noted the details set out by Ms Barbagallo were “all allegations” and that no evidence had been put before the court at this stage.