A jealous husband who stabbed his wife to death after she left him and then turned the murder weapon on himself has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Lanonai Ahau, a 28-year-old Tongan labourer from Mangere Bridge, survived his suicide bid.
He was sentenced yesterday by Justice Judith Potter in the High Court at Auckland after admitting the murder of his 23-year-old wife Langaola on February 20.
Ahau stabbed her 42 times and slit her throat before stabbing himself and trying to cut his own throat.
Defence counsel Kevin Ryan, QC, said that but for the prompt actions of police officers in getting Ahau to hospital, he would have died.
Mr Ryan said Ahau apologised to his wife's family and prayed for forgiveness for what he had done.
The police summary of facts revealed that the couple, who had two children, had a stormy and violent relationship.
Langaola Ahau had told a friend that when she mentioned the prospect of separating, Ahau told her he would hunt her down and kill her.
In mid-February, Langaola told Ahau the relationship was over and she was moving out.
But he became more possessive and obsessed, following and stalking her.
His wife was so worried that until her death four days later she made sure she was never alone.
After repeated phone calls from Ahau, she finally agreed to meet him, but only in a public place and only if a friend was present.
However, Ahau drove them to their old home, saying he wanted to pick up some things, despite the protests of his wife and the woman who was with her.
The women made a pact not to split up. Despite this, Ahau prevailed on his wife's friend to go to a service station to buy cigarettes, assuring her that he would not harm the victim but merely wanted to talk to her.
Once inside the house, he smashed a chopping board over his wife's head before launching into the murderous knife attack.
The wife's friend, who was gone only a few minutes, returned to see Ahau pull the knife out of the victim's chest and then stab himself and cut his own throat.
Ahau later told police he was angry and jealous and had decided to kill his wife that morning.
He had arranged for the friend to leave to give him the opportunity to kill his wife.
Mr Ryan said Ahau believed his wife was carrying on with another man.
Jealous husband gets life sentence
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