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The defence lawyer for a man who admits he strangled his wife and buried her body in their home says his client acted in self-defence.

Closing arguments are set for today at the second-degree murder trial of Allan Shyback. He is also charged with causing an indignity to the body of Lisa Mitchell, 31, who was last seen alive in Calgary in October 2012.

An undercover "Mr. Big'' sting operation was launched in 2013 and ended with Shyback's confession and arrest in Winnipeg a year later.

During his testimony this week, Shyback told the judge hearing the case alone that he had been the victim of nearly a decade of domestic abuse and that Mitchell had attacked him with a knife the day she died.

"I expect self-defence to be the first defence that will be raised and that can lead to a complete acquittal," Shyback's lawyer, Balfour Der, told court Tuesday.

Mitchell's mummified body was found in a Rubbermaid container that had been entombed in cement in the basement of the house she and Shyback shared.

"There is no defence raised to the indignity charge. I would expect there would be a finding of guilt," said Der.