Nelomi Perera murder trial: Chilling moment jury hears the bloodcurdling final screams of a mum-of-two as she was allegedly hacked her to death in front of her kids by her husband

A mother’s bloodcurdling screams in her final moments after she was allegedly stabbed to death with a meat cleaver by her estranged husband have been heard in court.

Dinush Kurera, 47, is accused of murdering his wife Nelomi Perera, 43, in front of their own children in a terrifying shooting at the family’s Sandhurst home, about 37km south-east of Melbourne.

He has pleaded not guilty to murder and another charge for attacking his teenage son during the bloody Dec. 3, 2022, attack.

On Tuesday, jurors in Kurera’s trial in the Victorian Supreme Court were forced to listen to chilling audio recordings of Ms Perara’s last seconds alive.

“Help me, help me,” Mrs Perera screamed in the footage captured on her watch.

The jury heard that Kurera flew into a murderous rage after questioning his son, fearing his ex-wife had other men.

Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson KC told the jury the alleged bloody attack lasted a staggering 14 minutes from start to finish.

When the incident was over, the alleged killer calmly told police who arrived at the scene what he had done, the court heard.

“I killed my wife. She is dead there,” Kurera said.

Despite these alleged confessions, Kurera went to court and pleaded not guilty.

On Wednesday, the jury is expected to hear a brief summary from his attorney, in which he will explain his defense.

Dressed in a black suit, the alleged killer sat in the dock at the back of the courtroom as he faced the first day of his trial.

The jury heard Kurera had entered the house through a wooden gate in the dead of night.

Mrs Perera was found dead in the kitchen, surrounded by a pool of blood.

Mr Gibson alleged that Kurera, dressed in dark clothing, wearing gloves and wielding an axe he had purchased earlier that day at Bunnings, struck his estranged wife over the head while she was smoking on the terrace at around 11.25pm ​​that evening.

He had returned home from Sri Lanka a few days earlier.

Mr Gibson claims Perera ended their marriage while he was away after discovering he had been unfaithful.

The prosecutor said Kurera could not accept that his marriage was over and that he might lose the house he had built for his family.

The couple’s children, a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, heard screams from downstairs and ran away, seeing their father with an axe and their mother lying on the ground, Gibson said.

He allegedly told the teenagers that if they called police or tried to leave he would set the house on fire and kill everyone, including himself, the court heard.

Mrs Perera stood up and showed her daughter her head wounds, then pointed to a pool of blood on the floor, Gibson said.

She allegedly tried to convince her husband to call an ambulance, but Kurera instead told his son to give Perera an ice pack and that he would rather talk on the couch.

As the estranged family sat in the living room, Kurera asked his children if their mother was seeing anyone else. The son replied, “A few people.”

“This comment (the boy) made to his father about his mother enraged the defendant,” Mr Gibson told the jury.

‘Mr. Kurera walked up to Nelomi and hit her several times.’

He alleged that Kurera’s “sustained, brutal and vicious attack” left Ms Perera with 35 wounds to vulnerable parts of her body, caused by both the axe and a chef’s knife stolen from the kitchen.

Their son tried to run outside and call for help, but Kurera allegedly chased him and struck the teen in the back of the head, shoulders and legs with the axe, Gibson said.

He said Kurera later told police that Perera had tried to stab him.

“I just wanted to talk to her,” he told police.

The process continues.

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