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A Canberra man charged with the attempted murder of his wife whispered in her ear “I’m going to kill you” shortly before he stabbed her in the arm with a kitchen knife, the ACT Supreme Court has heard.
The court was told the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, returned to their Gungahlin home after a night of drinking on July 5, 2024, and got into an argument with his wife.
He is accused of strangling her, punching her in the face, and charging at her with the knife before stabbing her.
The jury heard the man told police who attended the incident “she needs help”.
When asked why, he allegedly said “stab wound by me”.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and the alternative charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm, choking and threat to kill.
Couple faced marriage difficulties
Prosecutor Sam McLaughlin told the jury the couple — who had been married for 24 years — had faced relationship difficulties for months leading up to the incident.
Mr McLaughlin said they had attended relationship counselling, but the prospects of their relationship were poor, to the extent the accused had removed his wife from his will and life insurance.
The jury heard the man discussed his marriage with his colleagues while drinking in a bar before the incident. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
On the evening of the incident the accused attended Hotel Realm for drinks after work with several colleagues.
The prosecution told the court he had two or three beers with one colleague, before he had a few beers, a meal and shared three bottles of wine with another colleague.
The jury heard he discussed with both colleagues that his wife had previously had an emotional affair before he left the bar at 10:45pm.
The accused’s daughter described his state as “very drunk, a bit aggressive, but mostly childish” when he returned home.
Knife still in woman’s arm when police arrived
The court heard an argument broke out between the accused and the alleged victim over the “standing issues” in their relationship.
The jury was told the accused then put his hand around his wife’s neck and whispered into her ear “I’m going to kill you”.
The court heard the pair’s daughter heard her mother cry “get off me” or “don’t come near me” before instructing her to call Triple Zero.
The court was told police later stopped the man after he left the house with his car keys.
The knife was still in the woman’s arm when police came inside, and she was then taken to hospital, where it was removed.
It was there she became aware of a small cut to the centre of her chest.
The court heard a forensic examination of her jumper likened the wound to a stab-like cut.
‘No intention to kill her’: Defence
The accused’s barrister, Jack Pappas, told the jury the prosecution had an “onerous” job to establish that his client intended to kill his wife.
“What has to be shown is not some intention to frighten her, scare her, wave a knife about, it is the intention to end her life,”
he said.
He said he would not contest that the alleged victim had suffered the injury or that her husband was holding a very sharp knife after it occurred.
However, Mr Pappas said what the accused did and did not do after the injury would show the jury that there was “no way he did this deliberately with an intention to kill her”.
He also quoted a 1917 essay by the late American Henry Louis Mencken when questioning forensic evidence that the woman suffered a “defensive injury”.
“‘For every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple, plausible and wrong,” Mr Pappas said.
“What looks like a defensive injury may not be a defensive injury.”
The trial will continue in the ACT Supreme Court.
