The teenage son of a man who brutally murdered his wife and effectively orphaned their four children has delivered a devastating speech to the court.
Jessie James Tumaliuan, 42, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to murdering Czarina Gatbonton Tumaliuan, 42, at her home in Werribee, west of Melbourne, on March 27 last year. He had been on bail at the time for previous offences against her and was subject to an active intervention order meant to protect her.
On Monday, the killer's 14-year-old son, whom Daily Mail has chosen not to name, told the hushed court what his father's evil had taken from him. 'Now there is a big empty space in our hearts that cannot be fixed,' he said. 'After the day she passed, it felt so unreal. We lost the most important person in our world that would care and love us. She was our role model, someone we love and could go to if we felt sad and scared, and now she's gone and it hurts so much that she's no longer with us.'
Appearing by videolink, the child remained composed as he explained to his father all the reasons why his mother was so special. 'My mum was someone you would call a super mum,' he added. 'She was the one who cared for us. She was the breadwinner. She struggled while my dad stood on the sideline, helping from time to time. Even when it was only her, she managed to take me and my siblings to a private school and care for our needs.'
Graphic details of the murder
The court heard graphic details of the killing, which occurred despite the active family violence intervention order protecting Ms Tumaliuan and the couple's children. Tumaliuan arrived unannounced shortly after his estranged wife returned from dropping her young twin sons at school. He forced his way in, verbally abused her, threatened her with a belt, and demanded money.
Ms Tumaliuan desperately tried to flee through the rear sliding door into the courtyard, screaming for help and attempting to hold the door shut. But Tumaliuan overpowered her, armed himself with two large kitchen knives, and chased her down. 'You child of a bitch, you little whore,' a triple-0 operator heard Tumaliuan say moments before he murdered his wife.
In a frenzied attack lasting about ten seconds and caught on CCTV, he stabbed her eight times in the neck, head, chest, abdomen, and arms. A deep stab wound to the right side of her neck severed major blood vessels, fractured ribs, and injured her lung, leading to rapid death from catastrophic blood loss. Tumaliuan then dragged her body back to the rear door, hid the knives, and called triple-0. He was arrested while still sitting beside her bloody remains in the backyard.
History of domestic violence
The court heard the couple had met and married in the Philippines before migrating to Australia in 2014. Ms Tumaliuan was a dedicated mother who worked at Medibank while running her own online clothing business. Tumaliuan, a former marine engineer, had been unemployed at the time. The relationship was plagued by domestic violence spanning years. Ms Tumaliuan suffered serious injuries, including a fractured cheekbone and dislocated shoulder, requiring hospital treatment. Multiple intervention orders were issued, and Tumaliuan repeatedly breached them.
Ms Tumaliuan's mother, Maria Gotencio, who now cares for her grandchildren, described the unrelenting grief of losing her daughter to domestic violence. 'Nothing could have prepared me for the day I lost my daughter. A part of me died with her,' she told the court. She spoke of raising her grieving grandchildren while battling trauma, depression, financial hardship, and the impossibility of replacing a mother's love. 'These children will grow up without their mother's love,' she said. 'No child should have to live with that. This is a life sentence of grief.'
No remorse shown
The court heard Tumaliuan expressed no remorse when interviewed by police. 'I'm the one who bring them here for a better life. But what did your system do to my family?' he told them. 'You give a privilege to a woman, then that woman abuse that privilege because she knows she can just call police even if she tell a lie.'
Tumaliuan's barrister, Chris Hooper, said his client had no explanation for carrying out the 'disgraceful' attack. He told the court Tumaliuan went to the home with no intention to commit murder. 'The intent to kill or cause really serious injury was formed very shortly before the victim was killed,' he submitted. 'Your honour might think probably around the time he picked up the knives. That does not mean that there was no premeditation. It just means that period of premeditation in my submission was relatively brief.' He noted his client made no effort to conceal the crime, calling the police himself and waiting for them to arrive.
The court heard Tumaliuan would likely be deported back to the Philippines upon his eventual release from jail. He will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.
