An estranged husband who claimed he was acting in self-defence when he hacked his wife to death in the Melbourne suburb of Sandhurst has been found guilty of murder by an Australian court.
A Victorian Supreme Court jury took less than three hours to deliberate before convicting Dinush Kurera, 47, of murder on Friday.
He faced a month-long trial over the death of his wife Nelomie Perera.
Kurera admitted to killing her on December 3, 2022, but pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder claiming he acted in self-defence.
He took the stand during his trial, telling the jury Ms Perera had threatened him with a knife and bit his finger during a heated argument in their Melbourne home.
He claimed to be scared she was going to attack him when he grabbed an axe and hit her ‘only a couple of times’.
Ms Perera, 43, was found dead in a pool of blood with 35 separate wounds, prosecutors told the jury.
Kurera also denied assaulting his 17-year-old son by striking him with an axe as the teen tried to flee the house during the altercation.
The jury retired to consider their verdicts on Friday after hearing four weeks of evidence, including from Kurera’s teenage son and daughter.
The girl, who was aged 16 when her mother died, said she saw her father repeatedly strike Ms Perera with a knife and axe, while the boy said Kurera chased him with an axe and hit him as he tried to find help.
The jury returned their guilty verdicts at 2pm on Friday, after just under three hours of deliberation.
Jurors also found Kurera was guilty of assaulting his son.
Kurera blinked and looked straight ahead as the verdicts were handed down.
He was returned to custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Source: AAP
--Agencies
