By Sarah McPhee
Minutes before she was killed, mother-of-three Amira Moughnieh called her lawyer to check if she could go inside her estranged husband’s home. She thought she would be safe.
Ahmad Hodroj, 41, pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday to the domestic violence-related manslaughter of Moughnieh inside his property in Bexley, in Sydney’s south, on July 5, 2023.
Ahmad Hodroj pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his estranged wife Amira Moughnieh.
Moughnieh, 30, had left Hodroj one year earlier following an eight-year marriage, moved out of the family home and into an apartment, and got a job as an aged care support worker with Muslim Care, according to the agreed facts.
She had told those close to her that Hodroj was “tight with his money” and attempted to control her friendships.
On the day of her death, Moughnieh worked two shifts before calling a friend. She said she was on her way to collect the children but was angry at Hodroj for not helping with money to buy them more clothes and said she had asked for more hours at work.
In a call to another friend, Moughnieh said she had been given more shifts.
“She was happy,” the facts state.
At 5.02pm, Moughnieh received a call from another friend, who she planned to meet for a children’s play date that night.
Moughnieh arrived in Bexley at 5.19pm and parked opposite Hodroj’s house.
Amira Moughnieh seemed happy in a call to a friend before her death.
At 5.21pm, she phoned her lawyer. The pair spoke in Arabic, and the call lasted 58 seconds.
“Sorry to ring you at this time … he wants me to come down to the house,” Moughnieh said. “Is there anything unlawful if I do that?”
The solicitor replied: “There is no AVO [apprehended violence order], there is nothing to prevent you from talking to him. Do you feel safe to do that?”
“Yes, this is not an issue,” Moughnieh said. The court documents state she did not sound stressed or concerned.
Moughnieh then entered Hodroj’s home, leaving her handbag in the car.
The details of what exactly happened next remain unclear, but while together inside the house, Hodroj “inflicted some degree of violence” on Moughnieh, causing her death by an unlawful and dangerous act, the facts state.
At 5.45pm, Hodroj called his brother-in-law next door, repeating, “Come, I need you.”
Hodroj was found standing inside the front door with blood under his eyes and coming from his nose. He knelt down and covered his head with his hands.
“I don’t know what happened. Amira is inside,” Hodroj said. “I was talking to her, and she started to scream. I don’t know what happened.”
The brother-in-law ran and found Moughnieh in the kitchen. He called triple zero, telling the operator he thought the pair had a fight and “she’s lying on the ground, and she’s nearly dead. I think she’s dead.”
The crime scene in Bexley after Amira Moughnieh was killed by Ahmad Hodroj.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Hodroj’s sister came into the home and screamed at the sight of her husband performing CPR on Moughnieh.
By 6.03pm, emergency services had arrived. Hodroj was in a foetal position, “breathing heavily and holding tissues to his eyes”, the facts state. He had scratches on his face that were still bleeding.
Despite resuscitation attempts, Moughnieh was formally declared deceased, and Hodroj was arrested.
Hodroj was initially charged with murder, but prosecutors withdrew the more serious charge on Tuesday upon his guilty plea to manslaughter.
During Hodroj’s Supreme Court bail application last year, questions were raised about Moughnieh’s exact cause of death.
The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Moughnieh proposed her cause of death be recorded as “unascertained” but opined “there were features suggestive of external pressure to the neck” and blunt force injuries, according to court documents tendered at the time.
Those documents, prepared by prosecutors, claimed police had found handwritten notes and diary entries during a search of Moughnieh’s Bankstown home after she was killed.
“I am a free, independent, strong woman,” one read, according to a translation. “A woman that works towards making her dreams and goals come true.”
She had “become strong for herself” after being “submissive” and “trapped”.
About Hodroj, she allegedly wrote in June 2023: “I don’t mean anything to him if I live or die.”
Magistrate Daniel Covington committed Hodroj to the NSW District Court for sentence, with the case to be mentioned on May 1.
Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty in NSW of 25 years behind bars. Hodroj remains in custody.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
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