HANFORD -- Dave Hawk, accused of killing his ex-wife, once said legal battles with her "aren't going to stop until she was dead," his girlfriend testified Thursday.

The dramatic statement by Mary Royer came during a hearing in Kings County Superior Court to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence against Hawk.

After attorneys present arguments today, Judge Steven Barnes is expected to decide whether Hawk, 50, should stand trial for the murder of Debbie Hawk, with the special allegation that the crime was committed for financial gain.

Debbie Hawk was reported missing on June 13, 2006, when her three children returned to her Hanford home from a weekend visit with their father in Lemoore. Her van was found abandoned a few days later in southwest Fresno.

Despite repeated searches throughout Kings County, investigators have found no remains. Hawk has been a suspect since late 2006, and was arrested in May.

Royer's testimony highlights a case built solely on circumstantial evidence, much of it involving trust funds from which Hawk is accused of stealing more than $330,000.

Throughout the day, a string of investigators discussed finding blood in Debbie Hawk's home and van, discovering a stolen license plate on her van when it was found in Fresno, and examining Hawk's computers and financial records seeking a motive for murder.

During the testimony, Hawk -- clad in a black-and-white jail jumpsuit and chained to the defense table -- sat next to his attorney, showing little reaction but occasionally jotting notes on a yellow legal pad.

Royer, who provided child care for the Hawks' three children, said she became romantically involved with Dave Hawk after he and Debbie Hawk divorced in 2000, moving in with him later that year. She and her children lived with Hawk until she moved out in late 2005, after which she said they remained close.

Under prodding by Deputy District Attorney Larry Crouch, Royer said Hawk was frustrated by child-custody and child-support issues between him and his ex-wife. She said she told investigators that Hawk was particularly upset when he was served with legal papers around Christmas in 2005.

"He told me these events aren't going to stop until she was dead," Royer told Crouch.

Hawk's attorney, Mark Coleman, attempted to soften the effect of Royer's statement. "Did he ever say, 'I'm going to kill her'?" he asked.

"No," she replied, adding she took Hawk's comment to mean the dispute could last for the rest of their lives or until the Hawk children turned 18.

Earlier in the day, Hawk's father, Stan Hawk, testified that he set up trust funds in the late 1990s for each of Dave and Debbie Hawk's three children, and estimated that he and his wife had put perhaps $100,000 into each account over the years.

Between 2002 and 2008, he added, Dave Hawk worked for him part-time on the family almond farm for $500 per month -- apparently Hawk's only income for much of that period. But Stan Hawk said his son received less than half that, because of child-support garnishments and taxes.

Kim Aguirre, a Fresno attorney who represented Debbie Hawk in the couple's ongoing custody and support dispute, said financial records he subpoenaed in early 2006 showed by that time, "virtually all of the money [in the children's trust funds] was gone."

But Aguirre never made it to court for a May 2006 family court hearing in Kings County, he said, because he was shot and wounded the day before the hearing by an unknown assailant. Neither Hawk nor anyone else has been named a suspect in that case.