Father kills his own wife in front of 300 friends and family | 7NEWS From The Vault

what was your mum like hmm just have to take a minute you're okay a bribe woman very brave yeah all I remember is turning around to check on my mom and seeing um my dad with a knife in his hand he looks like he doesn't have a care in the world minutes earlier he'd stabbed his wife to death in front of 300 people including one of his daughters the courts the law the police were no protection he'd vowed to kill her she feared he would but help never came Aman Zara's son is 24 years old the agonizing and Searing pain that this coward has caused us is one that will last a lifetime these are the hardest words he'll ever write the coward is his father and it's the day of his sentence we saw this matter coming and it could have been stopped by authorities ladies and gentlemen today is just another day it is just another day where the system failed to protect a brave woman a caring friend a loving mother married for 30 years Zia and Zara had three children he was Iranian and he was a lawyer from Afghanistan 14 years ago they came to Australia settling in Adelaide to the outside world he was a good man he was highly regarded he was seen as a gentleman it was seen as a as a hard-working man a pillar of the community correct yes yeah people would always look after him but at home he was a tyrant regularly bashing his wife and children from my dad being abusive towards my mum and and myself and I'm not so it was normal there would be times where arguments would escalate would lead to um my father abusing my mother be it a bit of slap in the face with with belt how about um to the point that the person wouldn't go away for four weeks I do remember one stage my mom was on the floor unconscious and my dad was still kicking her put up with that for nearly 30 years she was um amazing woman she would push all the violence and abuse aside because she knew that if she enjoyed enough then their kids would be able to have a better life in February 2009 a family argument escalated into terrifying rage he was making threats against her saying that I will kill you um and I'll kill you all I'll kill you all I'll burn the house down and kill you all inside that was the last straw Zara took her children fled the house and went into hiding Zia angrily told his brother that she Dishonored and humiliated him his world was completely changed yes he was no longer in control the first time we met she said to me I feared for my life so my husband will find me and he will kill me shevlin a family court lawyer met Zara two weeks before she fled Zara wanted a divorce and protection what was within her power to protect herself and her children the only real option was to obtain a domestic violence restraining order so she did but his intimidation continued on several occasions on access visits with his youngest daughter Zia made direct threats what was he saying he was saying that he would he would take his revenge he was saying that every action has a reaction and that there would be consequences for my mother's actions and you took those as threats to kill your mother to kill harm yes police didn't know did they no regardless of of us reporting it to the police um they didn't see it as a breach of the restraining order as sad and unfortunate as that is in a legal sense it does not constitute a breach of the order in a legal sense well um that's the law for South Australian assistant commissioner Brian Fay the difficulty for police is determining when is a threat really a threat no one really knows or can prove what they meant was it about a threat to um Zara's life or the children's life or was it a line that the offender was saying that he might just destroy the house or do something along those lines and so when the threats are not clear and constitute a breach of the law the police have no authority to act Zara went into hiding she changed her dresses and rarely left the house terrified she'd be tracked down by Zia and his family then the system completely failed her through his lawyers Zia asked for the restraining order to be relaxed to allow him to attend public functions even if his wife was also there Zara went to court to beg them not to do this but the prosecutor warned her if she lost she risked losing the protection order completely Zia won the day the variation should never have been made because it enabled Mr abrahimzadee to have access to Zara which where he'll never ordinarily have had if that access hadn't been available to him then the events on that night wouldn't have taken place ten days later Zia made his way alone to the Adelaide Convention Center inside with 300 people including his wife and daughter antenna celebrating the Iranian New Year CCTV footage shows him pacing and on the phone before entering the auditorium his wife had no idea he was so close hidden in his jacket pocket is a knife Zara's decision to attend the party was not taken lightly she knew Zia didn't like such big social functions and tickets had sold out well before he'd applied for the variation to the restraining order but 20 minutes after Zara arrived into the room walked Zia my mom was shocked we were all shocked and he was just getting closer and closer and closer antenna was scared she pleaded with security and arranged for an escort to their car once it was time to leave they hadn't left immediately because they believed Zara was safer surrounded by so many people as the evening wound down Zia suddenly rushed towards his wife stabbing her eight times in the back and head I remember hanging onto his jacket and just saying you killed her um and there were men that were hanging on to him they were holding him they were pushing him into another room Sunday the 21st of March Zia was dragged into the convention Center's kitchen he just stabbed his wife of 30 years he was calm he was composed emotionless his greatest concern was that his glasses needed cleaning just sitting there waiting because if I think it happened he's just waiting no guilt no remorse nothing you under arrest his hands were covered for later forensic tests as he was being handcuffed Zara his wife was fighting for her life that night she would die in hospital I could see a trail of blood which uh which was from my mother when she was being taken into the theater and I was a nurse mopping up the blood [Music] Armand and his sisters are now campaigning for greater penalties for domestic violence and for a tougher response from authorities to breaches of violence orders did the system fail Zara Abrahim today well ultimately yes [Music] um but what part of it I'm not sure this was a person that was hell-bent on killing her and did so Zia was sentenced to life in jail afterwards his brother spoke on his behalf well I I think it was not really Justice for him I think it should come down to a manslaughter because of a lot of provocation has been done to him Zaya who is appealing his sentence wrote to his children after the murder blaming their mother when you know someone is trying to destroy you in any possible way you would defend yourself and sometimes this defense results in the destruction of the opposing party I think I am also a victim of what happened regardless of the sentence nothing will ever bring my mother back nor will it give us any form of closure on this horrific chapter of Our Lives thank you thank you

Channel: 7NEWS Spotlight

Views: 2,099,449

Keywords: sunday night australia, husband kills wife australia, spotlight, husband kills wife documentary, killer husband, true crime documentary, true crime recaps, documentary, australian crime stories, aussie crime documentaries, story, crime documentary 2022, true crime stories, Channel 7, person of interest, alex cullen, interview, News, 7news, true crime daily, australian crime documentaries, True crime channels, Arman Abrahimzadeh, Adelaide news channel 7, 7news australia, 7 news

Id: ybAeHH0rYz8

Length: 12min 49sec (769 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 20 2022