Prosecutors have outlined allegations of a "fetish" for collecting and wearing women's underwear, a conviction for attacking a woman in 1990 and a claim of an "obsessive sexual interest in the abduction and rape of women" at a pre-trial hearing for the alleged Claremont serial killer.

Key points: Bradley Edwards denies murdering three women in Claremont in the 1990s

Bradley Edwards denies murdering three women in Claremont in the 1990s Prosecutors allege they took his DNA from the body of the third victim, Ciara Glennon

Prosecutors allege they took his DNA from the body of the third victim, Ciara Glennon Ms Glennon's cause of death was consistent with her neck being cut

The allegations were detailed in an opening address at a hearing to decide what evidence will be allowed to be presented at the July trial of Bradley Robert Edwards.

Mr Edwards, 50, is accused of murdering Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, who all vanished from the Claremont night precinct in the mid-1990s.

He is also accused of sexually motivated attacks on two other women, one in 1988 and another in 1995.

He denies all the allegations against him.

Sarah Spiers, Ciara Glennon, and Jane Rimmer disappeared from Claremont in 1996 and 1997. ( ABC News )

The 'Huntingdale prowler'

Prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo today outlined areas of evidence the state wished to present against Mr Edwards.

The first category was called "the Huntingdale prowler", which she said included evidence that in 1988, articles of clothing and women's underwear were stolen from clotheslines in the Huntingdale area.

Ms Barbagallo said the state planned to allege Mr Edwards, who was then aged 19, had broken into or attempted to break into houses within a 1-kilometre radius of his family's home, and was seen wearing what were described as silky gowns.

Mr Edwards denies all the allegations against him. ( Facebook: KLAC )

She said those alleged events happened around the same time as an attack of which Mr Edwards is accused, where he allegedly broke into the family home of an 18-year-old woman, unplugged the telephone and tried to attack her.

Ms Barbagallo said it was alleged that at the time of the Huntingdale incidents, Mr Edwards was "an introverted, socially awkward man … who had a longstanding tendency for the collection and wearing of women's underwear".

"It's the state's case he had a fetish for women's underwear and garments," she said.

Ms Barbagallo said the state wanted to use the "Huntingdale prowler evidence" to show that Mr Edwards had a "propensity or tendency to prowl an area" in order to "seize the opportunity to commit offences with a sexual motive".

She said in Huntingdale he prowled on foot, while in Claremont he prowled in a vehicle.

"We say this is the manner in which he does what he does," she said.

"We say this is the manner in which he goes about identifying his victims in Claremont … he prowls in Huntingdale and he prowls in Claremont."

A prison van transporting Bradley Edwards arrives at Perth's Supreme Court. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

Mr Edwards's barrister, Paul Yovich SC, argued against the admissibility as evidence of particular details of his client's conduct in the "Huntingdale Prowler" allegations.

"Stealing women's underwear in 1988 does not have any relevance to murdering women," he said.

He argued the allegation of Mr Edwards's so-called "prowling tendency" was not established and said while the motivation for the alleged murders "might have been sexual", this was not known.

Prior attack on woman at hospital revealed

Another category of evidence was called the "Telstra living witness project", which centres on allegations Mr Edwards drove around the Claremont and Cottesloe areas in 1995 and 1996 in his Telstra work-issued car and stopped to look at women and offer them a lift.

Mr Edwards returned to court this morning after being treated in hospital for an ear injury. ( Supplied: Anne Barnetson )

The court heard he allegedly told one woman "he was looking for damsels in distress like her", before grabbing her and trying to kiss her, but she managed to push him away.

In another alleged incident, a sole male in a white car with a Telstra logo stopped and stared at two women waiting for a taxi, before driving away.

It was also revealed Mr Edwards had a conviction for attacking a woman in 1990, in what was labelled "the Hollywood hospital" evidence.

The court heard he was working at the hospital as a Telstra technician and attacked a social worker, described as being a woman in "mature years", as she sat in a chair.

He tried to put a piece of material in her mouth but she kicked him and managed to break free, before cable ties were later found in his pocket.

Ms Barbagallo said Mr Edwards was convicted of common assault and sentenced to two years' probation.

Accused's DNA linked to victims

The next category was called "the Karrakatta" evidence, which related to charges Mr Edwards was facing of abducting a 17-year-old girl in 1995, taking her to Karrakatta Cemetery and sexually assaulting her.

Mr Edwards's trial is due to begin later this year. ( Facebook: KLAC )

It is alleged Mr Edwards grabbed the teenager from behind, pushed her to the ground and used a cord with a "pre-prepared, improvised handcuff knot" to bind her hands.

It is also alleged he placed a hood over her head and bound her feet together, before carrying her to his car and driving to Karrakatta Cemetery.

Ms Barbagallo said swabs taken from the victim matched the accused's DNA, which was taken after his arrest in December 2016.

The final category of evidence, called the "Claremont series", was the proposed evidence relating to the alleged murders of Ms Spiers, Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon, who disappeared from Claremont in 1996 and 1997.

Neck injuries and 'blood-curdling' screams

The court was told Ms Spiers was last seen alive, in January 1996, leaning up against a Telstra bollard after calling a taxi.

Not long after this Ms Barbagallo said "a series of blood-curdling screams" were heard by a resident in Mosman Park.

A witness also claimed to have seen a white or cream car parked on the wrong side of the road, with Ms Barbagallo saying the description of the vehicle was similar to one of the two cars to which Mr Edwards was given access by his employer, Telstra.

The court heard that Ms Rimmer's body was found 55 days after she disappeared at Wellard, south of Perth, where on the same day a witness found a knife with a Telstra logo.

State prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo has begun outlining the case against Mr Edwards. ( ABC News: Hugh Sando )

Ms Barbagallo said the knife was a "standard issue" Telstra or Telecom knife that had been issued to employees, including Mr Edwards.

She said two similar knives were found in a toolbox in his car after his arrest in 2016.

The court heard that because of the decomposition of Ms Rimmer's body, the cause of death could not be determined, however she had "defects" to her neck.

It was also revealed DNA taken from Ms Glennon's body, including from under her fingernails, was consistent with Mr Edwards's DNA, and fibres located in her hair corresponded to fibres from the interior of the work car Mr Edwards was allocated at the time.

The car was seized by police in 2017.

Ms Glennon's body was found 18 days after she vanished, and Ms Barbagallo said her cause of death was consistent with her neck being cut.

The court heard that on the night of Ms Glennon's disappearance in March 1997, Mr Edwards had been due to spend the night with friends, but he turned up the next morning and told them he had not turned up because he was trying to reconcile with his then partner

Ms Barbagallo said all the allegations against Mr Edwards, as well as pornography and "violent and erotic stories" seized after his arrest, showed he had an "obsessive sexual interest in the abduction, imprisonment and forcible rape of women in degrading and violent circumstances and/or the performance of sexual acts on them whilst they are incapable of resisting, from which he derives sexual gratification".

She claimed it showed this has "sexual interests were extreme, abnormal and depraved".

She also said boxes had been found at his home after his arrest, which contained women's underwear with holes cut out.

Computer stories had 'striking similarity' to alleged attack

Details were also given of numerous "stories" allegedly accessed, downloaded or contributed to by Mr Edwards and found on a computer at his house.

Ms Barbagallo said the stories, some of which were called "Chloe's story", "Nicola's story" and "Sophie's story", were about the abduction of women or about having non-consensual sex with women.

She said "Chloe's story" had a marked and striking similarity to what Mr Edwards was alleged to have done to the teenage girl at Karrakatta Cemetery in 1995.

Ms Barbagallo also suggested that the alleged offences were committed during periods of emotional turmoil in Mr Edwards's personal life, saying specific events seemed to have been an "emotional trigger" for him.

While the state also argued that the evidence it wanted to present against Mr Edwards represented "an escalation" from him being a night time prowler to a sex attacker and then a murderer, Mr Yovich submitted that there were distinguishing and significant differences in what was being alleged.

For example, he said the alleged incident in Huntingdale in 1988 against a 19-year-old woman involved an assailant wearing a woman's garment entering a house at night time, while "the Hollywood Hospital" attack, to which Mr Edwards pleaded guilty, was committed in broad day light with minimal evidence of any pre-meditation or any attempt by Mr Edwards to disguise his identity.

At one point, Justice Stephen Hall noted for the benefit of everyone in the court that what Ms Barbagallo was presenting were "allegations" and not evidence.

"This is yet to be proven," Justice Hall said.