A man has been charged with murder hours after his wife was found dead in their home in what police said were “very violent” circumstances.
Emergency services rushed to a unit complex on Knox Street in Belmore in Sydney’s south-west at 7.50am on Wednesday after receiving reports of welfare concerns about a ‘distressed female’.
Mother-of-five Khouloud Hawatt, 31, was found dead in an apartment.
Homicide detectives set up a crime scene and following an investigation the woman’s husband, Talaat Hawatt, 35, was arrested less than an hour later 20 miles away at a home in Denham Court.
He was taken to Campbelltown Police Station where he has since been charged with murder (domestic violence), breaching a domestic violence arrest order, using prohibited weapons contrary to the prohibition order and failing to comply with the entry order to digital evidence.
Hawatt was refused bail to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday.
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.
Mother-of-five Khouloud Hawatt was found dead in a unit in Belmore on Wednesday
Her husband Talaat Hawatt (photo) was charged with murder late Wednesday evening
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’.
She confirmed that Hawatt was known to a strike force targeting perpetrators of domestic violence known as Operation Amarok, and that his wife had a warrant for his arrest when she was allegedly murdered.
“I know he has come to Amarok’s attention before, and it was only in August that Campsie Police underwent a compliance check,” Chief Inspector Waldau said.
It comes after a woman who knew Ms Hawatt told Daily Mail Australia she had spoken to a mother-of-five the day before she was allegedly killed.
She said there was no indication anything was wrong.
The couple stands arm in arm and while Mrs Hawatt carries a bouquet of white roses in her hand, the couple poses for the camera in their wedding suits (pictured)
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.
Police are seen outside the house in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday
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-west.
‘The mother used to come into our store. She was very calm. It’s so sad because they have five children,” a local worker told Daily Mail Australia.
A crime scene has been established at the couple’s home in Belmore (pictured)