Girl, 8, tried to stop father killing mother
A psychotic man repeatedly stabbed his wife despite their eight-year-old daughter's attempts to stop him by pulling at his shirt, a Sydney court has been told.
In the NSW Supreme Court today, Justice Peter Hidden found the 36-year-old man not guilty of his estranged wife's murder in November last year due to his mental illness.
"In the course of the attack, the deceased called to her daughter, and it was this which brought the unfortunate girl to the lounge room where .... the violence was still being inflicted," he said.
"Indeed, she even tried to protect her mother by pulling at [her father's] shirt.
"After the attack, he attempted to clean the blade of the knife and hid it in the washing machine, before leaving the unit with the child."
Police located him the next day driving in the NSW South Coast area, with his daughter in the back seat.
After being arrested, he invited police to shoot him, saying he had killed his wife because she had a boyfriend.
Justice Hidden said the man irrationally and wrongly believed his 31-year-old estranged wife was having a sexual relationship with her boss.
"This angered him even though they had been separated, and had not had sexual relations, for some years," he said.
The woman had lived with her daughter, her mother and other relatives in a unit in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which her husband visited regularly to see their child.
Their marriage had not been happy, being marred by arguments and, on occasions, violent or threatening behaviour by him.
In the days before the stabbing, the man had exhibited disturbed behaviour and had produced a knife, telling his mother-in-law: "Lucky you come home early, otherwise [a family friend] would be dead."
The mother took the knife and he said: "Two stabs on the neck and a person will be bleeding to death."
He continued: "Only three more days and you will all have your freedom, you will never see me again ... in three days time everything will be fine. Don't worry about me."
These comments came three days before the killing.
Justice Hidden said two psychiatrists concluded the man had been suffering from a psychotic illness at the time, either schizophrenia or delusional disorder.
He ordered the man to be detained in a prison hospital until he was released "by due process of law".
"I extend my sympathy to all the members of the deceased's family, who must be deeply affected by this tragic event," he said.
The man cannot be named for legal reasons.
AAP
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