Domestic violence victim Jean-Louise Herholdt jailed for killing her attacker

A domestic violence victim who stabbed her husband to death will be eligible for parole immediately after a judge found her actions were not lawful but understandable in a “human way”.

Jean-Louise Herholdt faced a years-long reign of terror at the hands of her husband Sean Murray.

A domestic violence victim who stabbed her husband to death will be eligible for parole after serving 813 days in jail after a judge found her actions, while not excusable by the law, were understandable in a “human way”.

Jean-Louise Herholdt faced a years-long reign of terror at the hands of her husband Sean Murray before she snapped and plunged a kitchen knife into his back, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard.

The nursing assistant and mother-of-three pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing Mr Murray during a violent altercation at their Murrumba Downs home in August 2020 moments after witnesses saw him choking her in their front yard.

Louise Murray killed her abuser Sean Murray. Picture: Facebook

Justice Peter Davis accepted Herholdt had been the victim of years of escalating violence at the hands of Mr Murray, the father of her twin daughters.

“Over the period of the relationship with Mr Murray he inflicted domestic violence upon you in different ways,” Justice Davis said.

“He abused you psychologically by demeaning and criticising you, he controlled your life by various means, he took control of family finances and limited your access to money, he controlled your social activities and was demanding and critical of your domestic abilities.

“He would tell you frightening stories of threats he had made to others and he would assault you regularly, he made demands upon you to perform sexual acts with which you were not comfortable.”

Evidence was put before the court of the extensive abuse, including an instance where Mr Murray headbutted Herholdt at a shopping centre and occasions in which she had presented at hospital with broken ribs.

Justice Davis said neighbours had witnessed him being “horribly violent”, and he made threats to kill Herholdt and her family.

He caused extensive damage to her car and home and was found burning family photographs in their backyard.

The court heard Herholdt had managed to put together a nest egg to help her and her three children flee Mr Murray but on the morning of his death, he found the cash and took it from her.

In harrowing CCTV audio played to the court of the day of Mr Murray’s death, Herholdt can be heard demanding he give the money back.

Louise Murray with her abusive husband Sean Murray. Picture Facebook

Herholdt was violently assaulted by Mr Murray and was choked in the front yard in view of their neighbours before he dragged her back inside where she inflicted the fatal knife wound as he tried to calm her down before police arrived.

Justice Davis said there were a number of aggravating features submitted by the crown, including that she acted in retaliation rather than protection, that Mr Murray was unarmed, and the stab was to a vulnerable area of his body.

“However you had just been beaten by Mr Murray in front of some of your neighbours, that was the latest in a long line of appalling acts of violence that Mr Murray had perpetrated upon you over a lengthy period,” he said.

“You believed he was effectively confiscating the money you had planned to use to escape him.

“In my view the fact that your anger boiled over in the way it did does not give lawful excuse for your offence but in a human way it is understandable.”

Herholdt pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment. She has already served 813 days in custody and is immediately eligible to apply for parole.