Magistrate's Court Stabbings in city flat alleged

Press, 24 April 1979, Page 4

Magistrate's Court Stabbings in city flat alleged

A woman, aged 20, who lay bleeding and screaming; for help after her husband had her nine limes with a serrated bread knife, saw him thrust the knife into his stomach, the Magistrate's Court heard yesterday. This evidence was given 1 before Messrs R. C. Holland; and C. H. Pilgrim, Justices’ ;>f the Peace, during the tak-i ing of depositions against i Lua’ai l.avea, a Christchurch] man, aged 26, who is, charged with attempting to murder his wife, Wendy] Karen Lavea, aged 20. on] March 6, at' Picton Avenue,] Christchurch. Lavea was committed to the Supreme Court for trial' on May 21 after the Justices: of the Peace ruled that a? prima facie case had been; established. Lavea was remanded on! $2OOO bail with two sureties; for like amounts. Twelve witnesses gave] evidence.

> The’ complainant. Wendy > ; Lavea, told the Court thatl early on the afternoon of] t March 5, she had gone with’ , a girlfriend to a city snooker parlour to tell her husJband that she was leaving ■ him. ’ Later that day she went] ■for tea with her friend and I, husband, then to her place tn Sumner to collect heC ■clothes to stay at the' friend’s home. ' “When ■.-e returned I saw! ■’my husband’s car outside: jthe flat so we tried to sneak] | in the back way so we] 1 1wouldn’t have to see him,’’; ■ ’said Wendy Laved. ; The defendant saw her ■ and entered the flat. ' Lavea said he wanted trr .■talk. ; Later after the com-! i]plainant could not get Lavea: |to leave, her friends who; downed the flat came down-1 ; stairs and asked him to I ■ leave. i As the complainant; I started to go upstairs Lavea 1

ijan up behind her and tried] Ito grab her, she said. ! “It was then that I saw i’the outline of a knife] ■through his shirt, and I ■asked him what he thought] ;'he was doing. “He kept asking if it was all over and I kept saying to put the knife away.” “He stayed talking to my ; ,ifriend and husband and then. : I heard him say he was coming upstairs to say ] goodnight, which he did.” ’ the complainant said. ’] “My husband asked if it; ! was all over between us and 11 said, ’Yes.’ showing him. .jthe door downstairs.” she; said. ’ After the friends and a j cousin tried to talk with J Lavea while his wife sat lon the stairs of the flat' j Lavea started ripping his .]T-shirt with the knife, she ■said. “The next thing I remem-] ■ ber is a blow to my right jshoulder.”

Her friend was Screaming* and told her to run. "I ran out the front door and saw my husband chas-: ing me with a knife, and' then 1 fell over,” she said. “He was stabbing me. I; | tried to kick him away while I was lying on my iback.” I The complainant told the 'Court that she suffered nine 'cuts, the first one on the shoulder, one on her leg. one on her head, five on her right arm and one on the left arm, and a fracture of the right arm. ”He was trying for my, stomach, but 1 kept my hand* over it.” She said that she tried toj get up. but she was bleedingand fell again. “He didn't say anythingwhen he stopped stabbing; “He stood there for about) two minutes. “1 thought that he thought) I was serioulsy hurt and? then he just stabbed himself

in the stomach,” she said. The complainant said she 1 was screaming for help because she thought that the

defendant might get up; again. Both were admitted to] Princess Margaret Hospital with stab wounds.