Victim or perpetrator? Young mum kills abusive partner with 14mm knife | 60 Minutes Australia

léna Kasparian didn't want her partner mark Sitaram to die she loved him but one night they got into an argument and he started physically attacking her Lina in desperation reached for a knife that was in the kitchen sink she wanted to scare mark off protect herself and her two young children defiantly he lunged at her and the knife pierced his chest by 14 millimeters but as Tiny as that was it was enough to kill him tonight we take you back to that awful evening and it's chaotic aftermath to see why in the eyes of the law Lina went from a victim to a perpetrator and what she had to do to beat a murder charge [Music] 14 millimetres is miniscule a tiny tip a mere one point four centimetres that will haunt Leena kasparian for life the pathologist says it went in about 14 millimeters which is about that a little cut there was no blood or anything 14 millimetres I mean that's tiny cut impossibly tiny for the damage it caused the death of her partner mark Sitaram and Felina a charge of murder with the prospect of life in jail in a split second one life is taken another ruined as Lina is branded a calculated killer tonight we hear as the horror of May the 1st 2011 unfolded first Lina's call to triple 0 okay you second you are getting that stabbed your boyfriend's in the pain her police interview and the little girl who saw it all and how did you feel when you saw all these it was the night no one planned where no one could imagine the outcome or the ramifications we're used to seeing women bashed badly sometimes dying in this case it's the man on the floor dying and the woman who's held the knife in the eyes of the law Lina is the attacker but to this former Supreme Court judge it's not that simple he now questions why she faced court at all was a prosecution case that was essentially hopeless from the start Lina Kasparian is in her element today at the photoshoot for her new after five range this strong independent fashion designer feels a sense of achievement natural and put on the jacket but it's taken years and a lot of heartache to get here serious it does hurt when people say nasty things about you and call your murderer when you know you're not and you know when someone you love dies and you're blamed for it [Music] to outsiders Lina and Mark made a happy loving couple but in truth after 10 months together the relationship was falling apart with mark drinking too much and taking drugs he got to a point where I told him like he needed to leave because I didn't want my kids to be around that and you know he'd cry and he's like I have no one else you're the only one I trust you're the only one I have and I felt sorry for him it was it a volatile relationship was a lot of arguments and he'd you know yell at me and swear at me and but it doesn't sound like you was submissive either in that relationship no I mean I told him off why are we drinking today why did you why did you lie to me you know he's promised you're not gonna drink anymore no one could know it but Sunday May the 1st 2011 would provide the trigger for a random act of violence that would end with the most tragic result again mark was drunk and Lina had had enough so decided to head home from a family party early I knew he was gonna be out of control and he was gonna embarrass me and humiliate me what was the drive home like horrible it was just intense he was out of control security footage from a drive-through captures the family as they pick up dinner Lena then heads home focused on getting her two children inside the house and keeping mark out I told mark to stay outside to cool off and you know he kept yelling and hurling abuse and trying to keep the Doreen and running into the door and making a racket at that point did you feel in danger I was more concerned with the neighbors I was embarrassed you know are they gonna hear him now and I better let him in because he's not gonna stop [Music] and that's when Lina made the biggest mistake of her life she opened the door to mark it's a decision Lina regrets to this day I remember the look on his face it just wasn't him anymore and I went into the kitchen to say you know are you all right like what's what's wrong with you like why are you behaving like this [Music] he slept me and that's where it all started [Music] have you ever hit eautiful no he's pushed me around before but he's never actually physically slapped me like that what did you do in response I was at that point telling him you know you need to leave I can't deal with you anymore [Music] and that's when he picked up the saucepan it was to be a new level of aggression as Mark grabbed the saucepan from the sink Lina's three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter heard the arguing and came running in to their mouths so tell me what Mark did with the saucepan striking me over my head full force [Music] and I remember just trying to block him at the same time push my son away and my my ears started ringing so sort of the sound sort of just went this crime-scene photo of the damaged and Miss shape and saucepan shows just how ferociously mark attacked her I'll never forget my kids screaming you know having my son wrapped around my leg screaming and crying and my daughter you're trying to protect me kicking mark from behind telling him leave my mommy alone coming up I just held it to my chest I said stay away from me pushed to the brink was he aware of the knife do you think yes kept saying all right stop me do it go on steadily when self-defense is no excuse I was like oh my god what just happened and I saw the tip of the knife had a little bit of blood on it and I was like okay I need to call an ambulance that's next on 60 minutes [Music] Leena Kasparian is under a brutal and surprise attack from her partner marks at Aryan who is drunk and angry with her young children around her legs Lena's in a desperate situation I was dealing with a demon of some sort and trying to protect my kids and keep them alive it's now that mark loses his grip on the saucepan it was the split second Lina needed and the reflex response that changed everything I just reached out to see what else there was there I can use to protect myself and the knife that I was using the night before was still in the drain and and so I grabbed it [Music] and I just held it to my chest I said stay away from me we'll see you aware of the knife do you think yeah at that point he saw the knife in my hand and then he started pacing and chest out and kept saying all right stab me do it go on stab me do it do it it's like that's not the reaction I was waiting for was waiting for him to just sort of walk away and leave the room [Music] this is the same sized and branded knife as the one Lina had picked up an incredibly sharp 16 centimeter boning knife a knife she insists she never planned to use and he just sort of lunged towards me and I don't know if he tripped or if he missed a step or if he I don't know but at one point he just came too close and I'm still holding the knife on my chest you know firmly and I think at that point I realized that the tip of the knife had gone into his shirt and I think he felt some sort of cut and he we just looked at each other with this sort of gasping like [Music] I was frozen like it's like time just stopped we just had that eye to eye current current a connection and I think I had that shock in my face where I was like oh my god what just happened and he was like sort of oh no like what did I do and then he just sort of took a step back and as soon as he walked away from me I quickly grabbed my kids and just push them into the laundry and ran in their life still in my hand same position and I saw the tip of the knife had a little bit of blood on it and I was like okay I need to call an ambulance I need police in the emergency it was so hot I dropped the phone a couple of times and I think I actually fell to my knees because my knees had gone weak just trying to comprehend what just happened I need an ambulance okay so I'm alone I'm getting the message off straight away at that time did you think that it was serious no no you know there was no force he was alive it wasn't dead there was no blood gushing anywhere there was nothing it was just a tiny little cut 40 millimeters he's conscious breathing much he's all right he's walking on now bleeding it's just a small tire small car but the injury is much worse than anyone knows while Lena and her children are still cowering in the laundry mark is walking around the house burning friends then suddenly he calls out for Lena I um heard him say I can't breathe [Music] as I ran out screaming and crying and telling him you know please don't die on me but don't stay don't close your eyes don't keep breathing the sharp knife had gone through Marc's skin incredibly and desperately unluckily it had missed cartilage and ribs to pierce his heart we know what happened my boyfriend just attacked me and I stab you in the chest with a knife it's her words in this phone call that says Lina go from victim to perpetrator by using the phrase I stabbed him in her emergency call Lina made herself sound like the attacker sad your boyfriend's in the chase aren't you sorry you said your boyfriend image in the chain [Music] Peter Doyle Lina's barrister blames her choice of words on the shock she was suffering so the suggestion that he might have stabbed himself by walking on to the knife has never made in those early moments why is that obviously as a highly-charged very emotional situation she was distraught and she had a children with her the person whom she loved was on the ground bleeding it's not the easiest way time to pick the best choice of words how do you explain something like that that just happened I'm holding a knife and you know in the knife went into his chest so I was in so much shock I was like I just stabbed him oh my god the damage was done and in the eyes of the law Lena was now the attacker so when I opened the door those two young cops he said put your weapons down that was the first thing I heard him say to me I was like what are you talking about so I reached out to him and grabbed his hand and pulled him and I said come and help me he needs help he's not breathing and they walked into the kitchen and I just stood there and I just looked at him oh why aren't you doing anything here's all we can't touch him but you're under arrest Leena tells police she was only trying to defend herself and protect her children but instead she's arrested for grievous bodily harm and immediately handcuffed I was baffled as I came on I couldn't shoot below I asked for the ambulance I called for help but I'm being treated as the body no one's even listening to me I'm seeing hearing when I was the one being attacked Peter Doyle says presented with the facts as they then knew them police had no other option I had a person who admitted having a knife in their hand and when the knife for entity's chest so I'm not critical of the police at first instance for their actions less than an hour after the attack and are now unconscious Marc is rushed to hospital for emergency heart surgery police separate Lena from her children and take her to the garage where she wants to give a statement to reveal what Mark had done as much as I was the victim in that situation they at that point thought that mark was the victim so I just want to explain to them that this is what happened this is the situation and I was um I was cuffed coming up police tapes revealed Lina's chilling account what her five-year-old saw all her hair twice and Lina's world thrown into chaos and I couldn't accept it by Mark's unbelievable death no you're lying Nico that's next on 60 minutes in her own chilling words this is the actual audio of Lina kasparian candid first interview with police recorded on their phone in her garage here she explains how at her hands her partner marks that Aryan was stabbed in the heart [Applause] Lina maintains she was only ever trying to scare Marc away she never wanted to hurt him and in her initial interview with detectives she is clearly distraught and terribly worried about Marc [Music] [Music] four hours later and exhausted Lina was interviewed again this time at the police station and again her story was the same he really had a couple of times that's when I grabbed a knife to defend myself I think kids were right under my legs they were all consistent with each other that Mark had been intoxicated that he was being violent and that he'd been assaulting her and that she acted in self-defense the next day without Lena's knowledge or permission her five-year-old daughter was interviewed by a specially trained female police officer so I've been told that this boy did something else to month what my dear do he got a penny hit her head twice okay and where was where was mom when he went is pointed this to mom in the kitchen in the kitchen for over an hour the little girl bravely answered the questions and what did mom do when he's pointing at your mum over the head with the painter twice my mom got a knife yeah and what did your mom do with the knife Shh um she caught him because he because he him on my head head [Music] mark lay in a coma for the next six days before his life-support was switched off I think I just fell to my knees and just I did I couldn't accept it I just said no you're lying you can't die you know I just lost a man that I love and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him or be by his side I was to say sorry or to say you know I forgive you didn't get to do any of that stuff so just I felt robbed did you know that his death would mean a murder charge for you no not at that point at that point your grief was was about him yeah it wasn't for yourself no no on the day of Marc's funeral a funeral she wasn't allowed to attend Lina's church was upgraded to murder I'm so angry saying why like he just got buried today and I've come to serve me with murder charges I didn't even get to mourn his death nothing when you were told about the charge being increased along with the anger how fearful were you about your future I asked my lawyer you know if I don't win this what's what am I looking at you know how many years am I gonna miss out on my children and he said you know with murder charges anywhere up to 20 years I was just so angry and scared do you think it was a mistake to pick up the knife yeah I regret picking up the knife but then no you know what am I gonna pick up a wooden spoon what's that gonna do and then if I didn't pick up the knife would he have picked up the knife and used it against me so it's just it was just an instant reaction to defend myself and to try to scare him off and and you know maternal instinct I just wanted to protect my children coming up some very sad to see this place Lina returns to face the nightmare someone shot a gun through that front window and the murder trial that should never have happened oh she was out of control North would have gone in much farther than justice at 14 mil that's next on 60 minutes [Music] so it's been a while it has been a while haven't been back since 2012 since I moved out coming sighs ah strange some very sad to see these place a lot of bad memories I guess this was the home Lina kasparian shared with her partner marks latarian following his death it was again the scene of another terrifying event tell me what happened well someone shot a gun through that front window and it would happen at about I think 1:00 in the morning I think they found four four bullets so I called the police someone tried to shoot me or try to scare me or threatened me I don't know what Western Sydney's latest drive-by victims a mother and her six-year-old daughter a bullet hole in the front window of their home a reminder of how their barrister Peter Doyle visited Lina at her house immediately following the shooting quite easily someone could have been killed or injured from that do you believe it was connected or coincidence be a big coincidence I think it was connected but I've got no idea who did it it was responsible [Music] waiting for her murder trial and rocked to the core by the shooting attack on her home all Lina could do was try to return to the routine of her life going into the trial were you confident that a jury would believe you yeah I had to and you know I don't believe in lies and I've always told the truth and and I believe that God he's watching I believe in God at Lena's trial it was revealed the neighbors had been watching too and were called as witnesses to testify against her it was in this courtroom that Lina learned for the first time the evidence gathered from her neighbors many had heard the fight even seen parts of it and yet no one had done anything to stop it one neighbor describes how he watched on from his backyard which overlooked Lena's kitchen he told the court he heard mark kill two to three times go on do it be a man he was so close he says he could see the veins in Mark's neck sticking out [Music] what did you think about that for your case it was excellent it corroborated what she was saying when you look at the evidence of different neighbors on their own might not have meant anything but when you considered what they were all saying in when looking at what she'd said her interviews to the police they were all confirming different aspects of her interview ultimately Lina's self-defense case rested on the size of the stab wound inflicted on mark it's just very unfortunate that it just happened to pierce his heart now if she was out of control if she had lost him he would have thought she'd be thrusting the knife and that the knife would have gone in much farther than just a 14 mil in one of the fastest murder trials ever in New South Wales it was all over after just three days of hearings the jury accepted Lina acted in self-defense and acquitted her of murder when the jury came back with their decision what was that moment like my heart was beating really fast and I just took a deep breath and I had to stand up and um I just heard her say not guilty and he just sort of it didn't really register you know I was like what just happened and um I think I was in shock I was like he's ideate like he's over this was a simple case where a woman was being terrorized in effect by her partner it was a case that never should have gone to trial according to retired Supreme Court Judge Anthony wheely that was really a hopeless crown case once the facts were assembled I think the Director of Public Prosecutions in this case really should have said let's be courageous let's acknowledge that it needn't go to trial because going to trial is expensive it's time-consuming it's emotionally horrific for everybody involved and I think in this case it could have been avoided why didn't the office of the day pay pay use its discretion why didn't it use its common sense well I can only guess but I would think that people just didn't look at it carefully enough and if anyone had just concentrated on the factual elements I've mentioned they would have seen that it was just a waste of time coming up acquitted but not forgiven I feel sorry for his mom you know and I feel her pain and her anger towards me vilified and branded Australia's black widow the media - painted you in a certain way suggested you'd got away with murder yeah am I supposed to wail and cry like a crazy person that's next on 60 minutes hello I'm Tara Brown thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

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Views: 319,228

Rating: 4.6081896 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter, Overton, Karl Stefanovic, Ray Martin, Peter Stefanovic, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Paul Barry, Peter Harvey, Michael Usher, Ross Coulthart, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Lena Kasparian, Marc Zartarian, self defense, murder, crime investigation, 14mm

Id: BWa7DLckijA

Length: 32min 4sec (1924 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 25 2019