An enraged husband who stabbed his wife to death after moving from New Zealand with their children has been found guilty of murder.
Rimoni Muliaga, 44, faced trial in Melbourne Supreme Court over the September 2023 stabbing of his wife Lise.
The 37-year-old mother of five was found with four stab wounds to her chest following an argument with her husband in a Melton South backyard.
Muliaga stabbed her over a false belief she was cheating on him with his brother, after they and their children had moved in with him weeks earlier, the trial was told.
The couple and five children had relocated from New Zealand to Melbourne in July 2023.
Muliaga’s legal team claimed he did not intend to murder his wife and his client’s intellectual disability and depressive disorder had impacted his reasoning.
Defence barrister Michael McGrath urged the jury to find him guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter rather than murder, as it was “the correct charge”.
But prosecutor Patrick Bourke SC said he was “angry at his wife” due to his belief she was being unfaithful to him and that showed he intended to stab her four times.
Fourteen jurors were whittled down to 12 who deliberated for four days before finding Muliaga guilty of murder.
He will face a pre-sentence hearing in February.
