Blackwater golfer Marc Antony Solinas sentenced for strangling wife

A Queensland train driver and qualified mechanic’s abhorrent abuse of his wife tore apart their family and landed him behind bars. Warning: Disturbing content

Blackwater golfer Marc Antony Solinas pleaded guilty to one count each of strangulation, common assault and assault occasioning bodily harm in Rockhampton District Court on October 10, 2024.

A train driver and qualified mechanic who volunteers with multiple sporting clubs yelled at his wife “I am going to kill you, kill everyone” before a prolonged and “inherently dangerous” series of violent acts in the middle of the night.

Marc Antony Solinas, 55, had been playing golf that day and drinking alcohol on Sunday, March 25, 2024, Rockhampton District Court heard.

Crown prosecutor Monique Bros-Wilshire told the court on October 12 that Solinas returned home and continued drinking alcohol with friends and his brother in the back shed of his Blackwater residence.

Solanis, who Ms Bros-Wilshire said had a “longstanding issue with alcohol” and allegedly being verbally and physically abusive towards his wife, woke his wife up at 2am yelling at her: “I f***ing hate you and you are a slut. I am going to kill you, kill everyone.”

He then hit the victim in the face and pulled her off the bed.

Defence barrister Julie Marsden said Solinas’s brother explained there had been a conversation in the shed about infidelity just before he woke his wife up and it had triggered her client.

Ms Bros-Wilshire said the victim landed on all fours between the wall and the bed with Solinas still hitting her as she tried to cover herself.

The victim managed to call emergency services as her phone had fallen onto the ground with her.

Solinas then grabbed her by throat, strangled her until she began to lose her vision due to lack of oxygen, and continued hitting her.

When he released his grip, the victim attempted to escape to the bathroom, but Solanis slammed the door back as she tried to close it.

Ms Bros-Wilshire said Solinas entered the bathroom, hit the victim again, “smashed the back of her head against the wall” causing her pain and pushed her backwards, almost causing her to fall into the bath.

The victim escaped the bathroom, called emergency services again, and was confronted in the hallway by Solinas holding a 25cm knife.

“The defendant’s brother indicated he was going to leave,” Ms Bros-Wilshire said.

“The complainant said ‘if you leave, I’m dead’.”

Solinas walked up to the victim and placed the knife’s tip on her chest as he pointed it at her.

He then handed the knife to his brother.

Solinas’s brother is not accused of any wrongdoing.

When police arrived, the victim left the house and ran out to police for assistance.

Ms Bros-Wilshire described the offending as “inherently dangerous” and said the victim was fortunate to not have sustained more significant injuries, noting she still sustained bruising to her face and neck, along with an earring ripped from her ear.

She said the victim’s impact statement spoke of the “profound effect this offending has had on her”.

Judge Ian Dearden described Solinas’s treatment of his wife that night as “just ugly, inexplicable”.

Ms Marsden said her client had a lot of loss in his life, including discovering his son dead at age 22 in 2020, and trying to resuscitate him. She said he had not dealt with the grief of that loss.

She said Solinas had now lost the relationship with his wife as a result of his behaviour on this occasion, which he is “devastated about” but “ultimately respects her wishes”.

Ms Marsden said this had also impacted their daughter who “is very cross with him” but he hopes to repair that relationship in the future.

She said Solinas worked with his father as a painter after the end of Year 11 at Blackwater before doing a mechanics apprenticeship.

Ms Marsden said he had, more recently, worked as a train driver and tutor.

She said since the offending, he has commenced counselling on a fortnightly basis and abstained from drinking alcohol.

Ms Marsden provided many references, from people from various sporting clubs that Solinas volunteered at or was a member of, to Judge Dearden.

She said those references show that in the past he had not conducted himself in ways, while drinking alcohol, that would have caused him to be banned from premises, but he knows if he did return to drinking alcohol, “he will be almost certainly sealing his fate”.

Judge Dearden said Solinas’s wife wrote in her impact statement that Solinas’s actions from that night made her a “sad, angry and anxious person”.

Solanis pleaded guilty to one count each of strangulation, common assault and assault occasioning bodily harm.

Judge Dearden sentenced Solinas to three years prison, declared three days presentence custody as time served and released him immediately on parole.