The bloodcurdling screams of a mother’s final moments as she was allegedly hacked to death by her estranged husband have been aired in court.
Dinush Kurera, 47, is accused of murdering his wife Nelomi Perera, 43, in front of their own children during a terrifying rampage within the family home in Sandhurst, located about 37km south east of Melbourne.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder and another charge of assaulting his teenage son during the bloody December 3, 2022 attack.
On Tuesday, jurors in Kurera’s Supreme Court of Victoria trial were forced to endure chilling audio of Ms Perara’s final seconds alive.
‘Help me, help me,’ Ms Perera shrieked during the recording captured on her watch.
The jury heard Kurera flew into a murderous rage after interrogating his son over fears his estranged wife was seeing other men.
Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson KC told the jury the alleged bloody attack took a whole 14 minutes from start to end.
When it was over, the alleged killer calmly told police who arrived at the scene what he had done, the court heard.
‘I killed my wife. She’s dead over there,’ Kurera said.
Dinush Kurera, 47, is accused of butchering his wife Nelomi Perera in front of their own children
Despite those alleged admissions, Kurera proceeded to court with his not guilty pleas.
On Wednesday, the jury is expected to hear a short summary from his lawyer explaining how his defence is put.
Dressed in a black suit, the alleged killer sat in the dock at the back of the court as he faced the first day of his trial.
The jury heard Kurera had broken into the home through a wooden fence under the cover of darkness.
Ms Perera was found dead in the kitchen surrounded in a pool of blood.
Mr Gibson alleged Kurera, dressed in dark clothing, wearing gloves and wielding a hatchet he purchased at Bunnings earlier that day, hit his estranged wife in the head as she was smoking on the patio about 11.25pm that evening.
Nelomi Perera captured her own bloody murder on her smart watch
He had days earlier arrived home from Sri Lanka.
Mr Gibson alleged Perera ended their marriage while he was away after discovering he had been unfaithful.
The prosecutor said Kurera could not accept his marriage was over and he might lose the house he built for his family.
The couple’s children, a 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, heard screaming from downstairs and ran to find their father holding a hatchet and their mother on the floor, Mr Gibson said.
He allegedly told the teens if they called police or tried to leave he would set fire to the home and kill everyone, including himself, the court heard.
Ms Perera got up and showed her daughter her head injuries, before pointing to a pool of blood on the floor, Mr Gibson said.
She allegedly tried to reason with her husband to call an ambulance, but Kurera instead told his son to get Ms Perera an ice pack and said he wanted to talk on the couch.
Dinush Kurera, 47, is accused of murdering his wife Nelomi Perera
While the estranged family sat in the living room, Kurera asked his children if their mother was seeing anyone else, to which the son said ‘a few people’.
‘This comment said by (the boy) to his father about his mother infuriated the accused,’ Mr Gibson told the jury.
‘Mr Kurera approached Nelomi and struck her multiple times.’
He alleged Kurera’s ‘sustained, brutal and vicious attack’ left Ms Perera with 35 wounds to vulnerable parts of her body from both the hatchet and a chef’s knife taken from the kitchen.
Their son tried to run outside and call for help, but Kurera allegedly chased him and hit the teen to the back of his head, shoulders and legs with the hatchet, Mr Gibson said.
He said Kurera later told police Ms Perera tried to stab him.
‘I just wanted to talk to her,’ he claimed to police.
The trial continues.
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