Narelle Atkinson appeared in a committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 4, charged with one count of murder.
The charge comes after an incident where her 49-year-old partner was allegedly fatally stabbed at their Heysen Ave home in the early hours of June 2 last year.
Day one of the committal hearing heard from the couple’s two teenage daughters, the girls’ boyfriends at the time, and the forensic pathologist who completed the autopsy.
The younger of the two daughters, now aged 16, told the court she heard her parents arguing in their bedroom, with part of it her father accusing her mother of having sex with the girl’s boyfriend.
She told the court she went to their room several times during the argument.
She said she saw her father throw a pillow at her mother, and another time saw him standing with a knife, in its case, in his hands.
She also saw him raise his arm as if to hit her, before the bedroom door was slammed shut, the girl said.
The court heard the third time the door opened, she saw her mother coming out of the room with a knife and her father clutching a stab wound to his abdomen.
She said she heard her mother apologising and saying she “didn’t mean to”.
When questioned by the defence if she knew that her father kept the filleting knife under his bed, the girl said she did not, but “was aware there were knives in the bedroom”.
The couple’s older daughter, now aged 18, testified that she saw the bedroom door to her parent’s room open twice, with the second time her father coming out clutching a wound and saying he had been stabbed.
When questioned by the defence why she told the 000 operator on the night that no-one was stabbed, and that he had “fallen into something”, the girl said she lied to protect her mother.
She also said her sister’s boyfriend told her not to tell anyone there had been a stabbing.
The girl told the court that “things got really bad” between her parents in the month before her father’s death.
She said both her parents broke things and that she had seen both parents being physical with each other previously.
The boyfriend of the younger sister said he told the other sister to tell the 000 operator no-one had been stabbed so that an ambulance would come faster.
In his statement, he said the relationship between Ms Atkinson and her partner was “toxic” and that he had previously seen the victim “slap” Ms Atkinson.
When asked if he heard a knife thrown, he said there was “some tingling” like a knife being thrown, and afterwards heard Ms Atkinson screaming and saying “I didn’t mean it”.
The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy told the court death was from “a single penetrating sharp force injury” caused by a knife that penetrated 5cm.
She told the court she did not have any information at what angle the knife entered the body.
The matter is proceeding before magistrate Peter Mithen in the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court, and no plea has been taken.
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