Wife murderer Zialloh Abrahimzadeh 'not sorry' despite guilty plea, say children

ZIALLOH Abrahimzadeh showed no emotion after murdering his wife, and reacted to very little during his two-week Supreme Court trial.

ZIALLOH Abrahimzadeh showed no emotion after murdering his wife, and reacted to very little during his two-week Supreme Court trial.

But yesterday, he repeatedly shed tears as his friends took the stand and dubbed him a "soft and gentle" man who "wouldn't hurt an ant".

Outside court, Abrahimzadeh's children said his unexpected, mid-trial guilty plea was shocking, but not an acceptance of responsibility.

"My father is a stubborn man who will stick to his pleas and his ways ... we did not see this coming," son Arman said.

"But he did not really take responsibility ... the way he worded (his plea), he was saying he was sorry for what happened but he was not sorry for his actions.

"Those are two different statements ... it's about time he took responsibility for his actions."

Late on Monday, Abrahimzadeh, 57, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife Zahra in front of 300 people at the Adelaide Convention Centre in March 2010.

Prior to that, he had claimed he was hallucinating about his youngest daughter being attacked by "dark, ugly men" when he inflicted eight fatal stab wounds.

In court yesterday, four of the murderer's friends gave character evidence on his behalf.

They told Justice John Sulan they considered Abrahimzadeh to be a "soft and gentle" man who cared deeply for his community.

One called Abrahimzadeh his "father figure" while another said he "wouldn't hurt an ant".

A third said he would not give evidence on Abrahimzadeh's behalf if he "truly believed he was violent".

Their statements ran counter to the children's evidence at trial.

They said Abrahimzadeh slapped, punched and kicked Zahra and once threw her into a window.

Daughters Atena and Anita said he would whip them with belts, smother them with pillows and burn their fingers for breaking his rules.

Outside court yesterday, Arman declined to comment on the character evidence.

"We have given all of our evidence to the court, and we will let the court decide," he said. "It's been a difficult two weeks but we are happy with the result."

Justice Sulan will hear further submissions in three weeks.