Mum-of-five Khouloud Bakour Hawatt was allegedly murdered by husband Talaat Hawatt using a home-made SPEAR at her Belmore unit
A husband is accused of killing his wife with a homemade spear made from a knife tied to a pole, just months after a court lifted a protective order issued to protect her.
Talaat Hawatt, 35, also known as Terrance Howot, allegedly killed his wife and mother of his five children Khouloud Bakour Hawatt, 31, at their Belmore unit, in Sydney’s south-west, on Wednesday morning.
Emergency services discovered her body after arriving at the scene at 7.50am following reports of a ‘distressed woman’.
Homicide detectives set up a crime scene and following investigations, Hawatt was arrested less than an hour later 20 miles away at a home in Denham Court. He was charged with several crimes, including murder.
It has now been revealed that on February 14, a police officer filed an ADVO at Bankstown Local Court, ordering Hawatt to stay away from his wife and their family home.
An interim ADVO was issued prohibiting Hawatt from contacting his wife, threatening him, stalking him or damaging her property.
However, the following month the couple requested a change so that he could move back into the house Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The changes were approved by Bankstown Local Court four months later in August, allowing Hawatt to return to the property.
Talaat Hawatt, 35, is alleged to have murdered his wife and mother of his five children. Khouloud Bakour Hawatt, 31. They were pictured together about 10 years ago
Police are seen outside the house in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday
Following his arrest, Hawatt was taken to Campbelltown Police Station and charged with murder (domestic violence), breaching a domestic violence order, using prohibited weapons contrary to the prohibition order and failing to comply with the access order digital evidence.
Hawatt was remanded in custody on Thursday to appear in Campbelltown Local Court via video link, where he was again refused bail.
The charges come after new photos of the couple’s apparently blissful wedding surfaced less than a decade ago.
The couple, who married in Lebanon in 2015, have five children ranging in age from six months to eight years old.
Photos from their wedding show them posing arm-in-arm for the camera, with Mrs. Hawatt carrying a bouquet of white roses and her husband in a three-piece suit.
In another photo, they stare longingly into each other’s eyes, with no inkling of the horror that would unfold less than a decade later.
Earlier on Wednesday, Campsie Chief Inspector Sheridan Waldau said the woman died ‘early this morning’ and officers reportedly came across ‘a very violent murder scene’.
Sitting arm in arm, the couple poses for the camera on their wedding day (photo)
She confirmed that Hawatt was known to the strike force targeting perpetrators of domestic violence known as Operation Amarok, and that his wife had a no-violence order against him when she was allegedly murdered.
“I know he has come to Amarok’s attention before, and he only underwent a compliance check by Campsie Police in August,” Chief Inspector Waldau said.
It comes after a woman who knew Ms Hawatt told Daily Mail Australia she spoke to the mother-of-five the day before she was allegedly murdered.
She said there was no indication anything was wrong.
The woman claimed that the family would be evicted from their unit in a few weeks and that neighbors had complained about yelling and slamming doors.
Another neighbor said they heard the sounds of people banging on walls and chasing each other Tuesday night.
It is understood Ms Hawatt has no family in Australia but her husband’s father lived in Condell Park in Sydney’s south.