Australian sheep shearer gets up to 17 years in jail for stabbing her fiance to death at ranch in Wyoming after drunken argument – after claiming he abused her
A jealous fiancée who told a friend: 'I'm about to stab this son of a bitch' has been convicted of manslaughter after plunging an eight-inch knife into his chest.
Monique Sullivan, 31, claimed he assaulted him and said she feared for her life when she lashed out at Andrew Moore during a howling snowstorm at a Wyoming ranch in February this year.
But she was jailed for between 12 and 17 years by a Lincoln County District Court judge who heard she was “in a rage” after he flirted with a friend during a night of heavy drinking.
“I know I hurt so many people and caused his family and friends so much pain, and for that I am so sorry,” she cried as she was sentenced.
“I couldn't imagine my life without Andrew.”
Monique Sullivan, 31, cried and apologized as she apologized for stabbing her fiancé to death
Andrew Moore and Monique Sullivan were part of an international crew of sheep shearers who migrated across the US to work on farms when they became stranded on a remote farm during a bitter winter in Wyoming.
Sullivan alleged she was abused for months by Moore, who made fun of her weight and tried to strangle her five months earlier
The New Zealander and his Australian fiancée were part of an international crew shearing sheep between farms in the US when they got a job at the Taliaferro Ranch in southern Lincoln County. Cowboy stands daily reported.
The pair lived in a camper van and had been rowing for weeks as they struggled with the harsh winter conditions on the farm outside Kemmerer.
On the night of February 19, the couple was drinking with other shearers at a loud party in the “boys' trailer,” and Moore spilled some beer on Sullivan's girlfriend Stacy Hikawai.
Sullivan rushed to her camper, followed by Hikaway who tried to comfort her.
“During the course of the conversation, Miss Sullivan became angrier and angrier,” Lincoln County Attorney Spencer Allred told the court.
“She wasn't part of this family. She felt lonely. She wanted to go home.'
Sullivan had sent Hikaway a series of text messages the previous day complaining about her fiancé.
“He is in the worst mood, he is so damn angry he could cry about it,” she wrote.
The day she killed her fiancé, she texted Hikaway at 6:38 a.m. to tell her, “I'm about to stab this motherfucker, he's a moody motherfucker.”
Stacy Hikaway (front) woke up to find Moore bleeding and blood on Sullivan's hands after Moore “flirted” with her earlier that night
The popular Kiwi had learned his trade during tours of Scotland, Australia and the US
Moore (right) with friends two years before he was stabbed to death by his fiancée
With Hakaway unconscious in bed, she returned to the boys' trailer and pulled her fiancé back to their RV.
'He kept saying things. He called me names. He was insulting to my family,” Sullivan later told police.
She claimed he attacked her with gritted teeth before screaming and pushing her to the ground.
Hikaway opened her eyes to see Moore bleeding and blood on Sullivan's hands before fleeing the RV.
Sullivan told police she grabbed a knife from the counter and didn't realize how close her fiancé was standing when she lunged with it.
But the court heard it went through his Carhart jacket, two jackets and eight inches of his chest.
“That's extreme violence, folks,” Allred told the jury.
“A lot of force was used to drive this knife into his chest.”
Sullivan told police that his last words had been, “Why did you do that, Mons?”
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bowers asked the jury, “If you just attacked someone and your last words are, 'Why did you do that,' what does that tell us?
“He had no idea why she had just killed him. Because he didn't attack her.'
Moore was taken to South Lincoln Medical Center, where he died that night, and Sullivan was also taken to the hospital after he tried to cut her wrist while police were en route.
'Just slit my throat. I just want to die,” she told the paramedics.
Her lawyers alleged that she had been abused for months by Moore, who had tried to strangle her five months earlier, pulled her out of a truck and made jokes about her weight.
They claimed she was left lonely and isolated among other shearers on the remote farm in the harsh winter conditions
“It gets into every part of your being,” Bennet told the court.
“They're Andrew's friends. Not hers. And then they say to her: 'Oh, you're taking it too seriously, we're just joking. We'll pour beer and laugh at you.'
The jury rejected a manslaughter charge, but convicted her of voluntary manslaughter last month.
Judge Joseph Bluemel ordered her to pay $7,000 to Moore's family while he jailed her, noting she would likely be deported back to Australia at the end of her sentence.
“I didn't want to be the person who did that to them,” she told the court.
'I have also caused my family so much pain and suffering. I am really sorry.
“And I am willing to face the consequences of my actions.”
A friend of Moore's who raised the money to take him to New Zealand was among those to pay tribute to him.
Moore (left) recorded a charity skydive on his Facebook page in 2012
“Andrew was a much-loved figure in the shaving industry, and I know he will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” said friend Michael Jeffries
“For seven years we lived and breathed shaving, touring the world and working in Scotland, Australia, the US and New Zealand,” wrote Michael Jeffries.
'We have also competed in many speed shear competitions in Wales, Australia and New Zealand.
'I called him my brother, as did many of our friends, he was definitely the life of the party and had such a heart of gold.
“Andrew was a much-loved figure in the shaving industry, and I know he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”