Steve Fabriczy, 68, appeared at ACT Magistrates Court in Canberra on Friday morning where his representatives said he would be applying for legal aid.
He had been extradited from Melbourne over a case that was previously believed to have gone cold.
In November 1999, two men forced their way into Irma and Gregor Palasics' McKellar home, where they bound and violently assaulted the couple before ransacking their house.
Mr Palasics freed himself from his bindings, which included cable ties, duct tape and a telephone cord, and found his wife had died from injuries sustained in an alleged assault by one of the burglars, the court was told.
The 72-year-old woman was found face down in the hallway, with bindings covering her hands, mouth and ankles.
An autopsy later revealed she had suffered a broken nose during the home invasion.
Two decades later - in 2019 - police found Fabriczy's DNA was allegedly a match to forensic evidence from the crime scene.
Detective Sergeant Craig Marriott told an extradition hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday that Fabriczy was interviewed by police on September 8 this year and admitted being in the Palasics' home on the night the woman was killed, but denied assault or murder.
The detective alleged Fabriczy's claims he did not murder or assault anyone were "false denials".
Though the 68-year-old attempted to apply for bail on Thursday, it was denied after the prosecution argued he was a flight risk with plans to move back to his home country of Hungary and significant financial means.
He could also speak to his co-accused, who remains at-large in the community, the prosecution said.
Fabriczy was previously convicted for plotting to hijack $1.6 million worth of cigarettes, the court heard.
The case will return to court on October 5.
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