An Auckland computer programmer strangled his girlfriend then lived with her decomposing body for nearly a month, a New Zealand court has been told.

Gordon Hieatt, 48, is accused of murdering his "on-again, off again" girlfriend Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, between April 17 and May 12 this year.

Ms Vaikaew, a Thai national known as "Sky", worked as a prostitute out of her flat in Warwick Street, Western Springs, prior to her death. The court heard that Hieatt had moved in with her several months beforehand.

At a depositions hearing at the Auckland District Court this morning, prosecutor Rachael Reid said the accused had killed his girlfriend after having an argument with her in early April.

Ms Vaikaew had not been seen by neighbours or her landlord for nearly a month and so, on the afternoon of May 12, her landlord, Ray Goffin, went to visit her home.