Victorian ‘mutilated’ his wife: court
A man who stabbed and mutilated his wife spends his days thinking about how to apologise to their four children, the Victorian Supreme Court heard on Friday.
Bona Lual murdered his estranged wife Suzi Oghia with a chef’s knife and then mutilated both her eyes as their children slept metres away in November 2013.
The jealous 38-year-old followed Ms Oghia to her Noble Park home that night after “lurking in the shadows” while she was at a party, the Court heard during Lual’s plea hearing on Friday.
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Recordings reveal Lual, of Doveton, called 000 after killing Ms Oghia and told the operator “someone is stabbed and is going to die soon” and later: “I’m the one who stab her”.
Defence barrister Greg Barns said Lual, who was convicted by a jury, was remorseful about the impact on his children but struggled to accept moral culpability over his wife’s death.
“I spend my days thinking how I could apologise to my children,” Lual wrote in a letter that was read to the court.
Mr Barns said Lual grew up in South Sudan surrounded by violence and met Ms Oghia while they were both at school.
Ms Oghia would end up fearing for her life as Lual made frightening threats in the lead up to her murder, Crown prosecutor Andrew Tinney, SC, said.
He said Lual, who killed Ms Oghia with a single deep stab wound, continued to deny his guilt.
The court heard Amanuel Lual, their eldest son, felt he had to look after his younger siblings and wanted to cry all the time after his mother’s death.
Justice Terry Forrest said Lual would likely be sentenced next week.
– AAP