Man pleads guilty to murder of estranged wife, attempted murder of two others

Brent Donovan Scott appeared in the High Court at Auckland this morning where a trial date was set for next February. Photo / Supplied

A man who stabbed his estranged wife to death lay in wait for more than an hour before sneaking under a garage door with a knife, a court has heard.

Brent Donovan Scott, 46, appeared in the High Court at Auckland this afternoon where he admitted to the murder of Heidi Welman-Scott, 41, and attempted murder of Taryn Leigh Welman, 23, and her boyfriend, Matija Miletic, also 23, in the North Shore suburb of Albany on November 27 last year.

For the first time today details of the circumstances were outlined, which revealed how Scott waited for his wife to drop their teenage son, Keagan, off at school before striking.

The South African-born defendant drove a hired truck to the family home, which he had left more than a year earlier because of problems in his marital relationship.

He parked 100m up the road, walked to the property and hid behind a water tank, watching Mrs Welman-Scott return from her night shift as a nurse.

Scott lay in wait as she took the teen to a nearby high school and when she returned, snuck under the garage door as it was closing.

Four days earlier, the defendant had bought two knives, one of which was a 20cm serrated diving blade.

He launched his attack on Mrs Welman-Scott and her screams woke Ms Welman and Mr Miletic.

As the victim tried to escape through an adjoining door, the pair attempted to help and Scott turned the knife on them.

His step-daughter was stabbed twice in the torso and her boyfriend received life-threatening internal bleeding from an abdomen wound.

They called emergency services as Mrs Welman-Scott had collapsed outside the house.

Despite the efforts of members of the public, she died there.

Meanwhile, three minutes after he had first slipped into the garage, Scott walked back up the road and took the truck back to the hire company.

His friend picked him up from there and dropped him at the airport where he waited for a flight to South Africa that he had booked six weeks earlier.

But he was detained before he could board the plane.

The court today heard about the sequence of events that led to the murder.

Scott sold his car two days beforehand, telling the buyer he was going back to South Africa because he could not shoot or stab anyone in New Zealand.

He also told his travel agent not to email him in case anyone found out about his plans to leave the country.

A trial for the defendant was set to take place in February but instead he will now be sentenced in February.

He will face a term of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of at least 10 years.

TIMELINE

31/10/14 - Scott pays for flights to South Africa for November 27 (the day he kills his wife).

20/11/14 - He picks up the tickets.

23/11/14 - The 50-year-old buys two knives, one of which is a 20cm serrated diving knife.

24/11/14 - He hires a truck.

25/11/14 - Scott sells his car and tells the buyer he is planning to go back to South Africa.

27/11/14 - He stabs his wife to death and attempts to murder his step-daughter and her boyfriend.