Moment Kerrie Catling fatally stabbed her husband Chris at Rockhampton

From the outside this Queensland family was the picture of middle class, footy-loving happiness, but behind closed doors something sinister was brewing long before a wife plunged a knife into her husband’s chest. *Distressing.

A husband fatally stabbed by his wife with a 13cm boating knife had grabbed the deadly weapon first and told his partner of three decades to kill herself.

This stunning revelation in Rockhampton Supreme Court came as Kerrie Catling was sentenced for killing her husband of 28 years, Chris with whom she’d shared a tumultuous relationship marred by control and physical violence.

Mr Catling was 51 when he died after he sustained a single stab wound to his chest in their family home on March 22, 2021.

His wife was charged with murder in August, 2021 and later pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.

This week Catling was sentenced to nine years prison and will be eligible for parole in August of this year.

While the court heard that on the day Mr Catling was fatally stabbed he in fact suggested his wife use it to kill herself, it was not clear how she came to be holding the knife.

Kerrie Catling has been sentenced for the manslaughter of her husband Chris Catling who died from a single stab wound to the chest.

“A struggle developed and you pushed the knife into his chest once,” Justice Graeme Crow said.

He said it followed her scratching him with tweezers and him pulling out two of her hair braids.

Mr Catling called triple-0 himself, followed by a call by Ms Catling nine minutes later, but he was dead by the time emergency services arrived at their Cyprus Ave, Norman Gardens home.

“Police entered and saw the deceased lying on the couch face up with his arms out to his side and a knife on the ground near his right hand,” Justice Crow said.

He said somehow her husband’s phone had been damaged and could not be used and she could not find her phone during the nine-minute delay.

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips described the relationship of 28 years as highly dysfunctional and strained by substantial stresses on the family unit.

After the pair were married in 1993, they raised their four children while living in Middlemount and Rockhampton.

Justice Crow accepted the allegations she was the victim of domestic violence during the relationship.

“You would be walking on eggshells and cower in fear of him,” he said.

Kerrie Catling has been sentenced for the manslaughter of her husband Chris Catling who died from a single stab wound to the chest.

Speaking about Mr Catling’s suggestion his wife kill herself, defence barrister Andrew Hoare said there was a history of similar incidents.

“What is demonstrated by this case is a long history of continuous domestic violence, which includes physical violence,” he said.

“She was anxious, in constant fear.

“He was controlling and coercive of her … she suffered physical abuse at his hands and that continued for years.

“The effect of it is a woman who is cowering and in fear and develops anxiety.”

The impact of the tragedy on the couple’s children was also detailed in court.

Abby Catlin told the court she loved her parents despite both making “bad decisions” and causing her and her siblings’ lifelong pain.

“We went from having both our parents present in both our lives to not having them present at all which has impacted us both tremendously,” she said.

Kerrie Catling has been sentenced for the manslaughter of her husband Chris Catling who died from a single stab wound to the chest.

“The effect this has had on myself and my siblings is indescribable.”

Mr Hoare said Catling had no intention to kill her husband and no criminal history.

Justice Crow said Catling did show remorse at the scene.

But during sentencing, Justice Crow told her, “you have taken a person’s life”.

Catling’s parole eligibility date is August 2 with 994 days presentence custody declared as time served.