Frank Dimasi excused from attending court due to infection and delirium

A man accused of killing his 85-year-old wife, beloved Italian matriarch Maria Dimasi, has been excused from court.

A man accused of killing his wife Maria Dimasi – a well-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother – by stabbing her multiple times in their Findon home in December is suffering an infection and experiencing delirium, a court has heard.

Francesco ‘Frank’ Dimasi was excused from attending a hearing at the Port Adelaide Magistrates on Tuesday due to his unfit state.

Defence counsel for Mr Dimasi said her client was currently unwell with an infection and experiencing delirium and would not be making an application for bail.

“I’ve been informed that Mr Dimasi is suffering from infection and also from delirium,” she said.

“He’s not in a state to be appearing on the screen today.”

The 91-year-old is currently being held at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he has remained since his arrest on December 2.

Frank Dimasi, charged with the alleged murder of his wife Maria Dimasi, left. Picture: 9News

A police prosecutor previously told the court that Mr Dimasi called triple-0 on December 2 after allegedly killing his wife – a beloved matriarch of South Australia’s Italian community – with police claiming he told them he and Maria had an argument at 5.30pm.

“The allegation is that the defendant has allegedly phoned triple-0 saying he has killed his wife,” he said.

“Six minutes later police arrived … they find him seated at the kitchen table with blood on his clothing, arms and hands and a kitchen-style knife located near the accused.

“They searched and located the deceased with significant wounds to the head, upper body and legs.

Murder victim Maria "Nonna" Dimasi. Photo: facebook

“(There was a) significant amount of blood in the room and around the body.”

The police prosecutor said it would be alleged that “Mr Dimasi was clearly inebriated at the time of his arrest”.

“He said he was sorry that he killed his wife and that she deserved it,” he said.

“At the time of the incident his blood alcohol was … more than four times the legal limit.”

Mr Dimasi was arrested at the couple’s Findon home after the discovery of his wife’s body at 11.20pm on Saturday night after reports of an “incident”.

Mr Dimasi will next appear at the Adelaide Magistrates Court in April.