A former Deakin University digital media and gender studies lecturer, Adam Brown, will spend up to 24 years behind bars after stabbing his wife to death.
The 41-year-old stabbed his wife after a heated argument about their two-year-old son’s kindergarten arrangements at their home in Croydon North, Melbourne, in 2022.
On the evening of 30 April, the couple began arguing in an upstairs bedroom, and they moved downstairs to the kitchen, where Mr Brown claimed they both grabbed knives.
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Their neighbours heard Mr Brown’s wife, Chen Cheng, 35, screaming, “Help me, help me, he’s trying to kill me” before she died.
Mr Brown was heard saying “stop”, “get down”, and “shut up” to Ms Cheng.
The fight moved to the backyard, where Mr Brown stabbed Ms Cheng several times, resulting in large wounds on her neck and chest.
Neighbours knocked on the door until Mr Brown let them in, finding Ms Cheng bleeding and lying lifeless on the grass.
Mr Cheng passed away before one of the neighbours, who was a nurse, tried to perform PCR.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Mr Brown attended the supreme court on Tuesday this week.
Justice John Champion sentenced Mr Brown to 24 years in prison for the “savage and sustained attack” on his wife while their two-year-old son was in the same house.
The judge rejected Mr Brown’s claim that they had stabbed each other.
“I accept an argument took place, but do not conclude Ms Cheng initially attacked you,” Justice Champion said.
“Ms Cheng fought for her life against your attack on her … she was terrified of what was occurring,” Justice Champion added.
Mr Brown has already served more than a year of his sentence and will be eligible for parole after 17-and-a-half years.
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