Woman reveals horror of seeing partner shot dead

A woman has fought back tears as she detailed the petrifying moment her partner was allegedly shot in the head by his ex’s husband in an ambush at their home.

Biannca Edmunds is charged with murder, accused of getting her new husband, Glen Cassidy, to kill her former husband Michael Caposiena. Picture: Nicki Connolly

A woman has fought back tears as she detailed the petrifying moment her partner was allegedly shot in the head by his ex’s husband in an ambush at their home.

Silvana Silva testified on Wednesday in the Supreme Court trial for Biannca Edmunds, who stands accused of directing her husband, Glen Cassidy, to kill her former partner, Michael Caposiena, at his Westmeadows unit on March 12, 2016.

Ms Edmunds, 36, and Mr Caposiena, 32, had a young son together and were in a custody battle.

Ms Silva, 34, said she had seen Mr Cassidy lurking at the front of their Pascoe St house and told Mr Caposiena that they should call the police.

“He told me ‘It’s not him, I think you are paranoid’,” she said.

But soon after, about 7.30pm, the doorbell rang.

Before answering it, Mr Caposiena armed himself with a kitchen knife.

He was then confronted by Mr Cassidy.

Biannca Edmunds with her husband Glen Cassidy. Picture: supplied

Ms Silva said Mr Cassidy shot Mr Caposiena during a wrestle that lasted “a matter of seconds”.

“I was petrified when I saw the gun,” Ms Silva told the court.

“The only thing I could see was the gun pointed towards Michael’s head. Then I heard the bang.”

She said there was no yelling or threats made.

Ms Silva said when she started to scream for help, the gun-wielding intruder turned on her.

“He pointed the gun towards my head as well and pulled the trigger,” she said.

“It was like a clack noise, a bang noise.

“But it didn’t work because I’m not sure if the gun was fully loaded.

“So then he started assaulting me. At first he had my back against the door. Then he grabbed my hair and started hitting my head on the step of the front door.”

Michael Caposiena.

She said the attack only ended when neighbours intervened and she ran back inside to Mr Caposiena, who laid in a pool of blood by the fridge.

“I tried everything I could to keep him alive,” she said.

“I tried to do CPR. I tried everything.”

But Mr Caposiena, 32, had been killed instantly.

And Mr Cassidy, 49, had now collapsed on the front steps and died from blood loss.

It had turned out he had been stabbed in the violent standoff with Mr Caposiena.

The court heard Ms Edmunds, 36, was 170km away in Shepparton at the time of the onslaught.

But she had plotted the murder with Mr Cassidy in the months earlier, with the pair even staking out the Westmeadows home, prosecutor Neill Hutton told the jury.

“She did not want him in her life, and she did not want him in (their son’s) life,” Mr Hutton said.

Mr Hutton said Ms Edmunds had told her own mother the days after the onslaught: “It’s all my fault. It wasn’t meant to get this out of control. I never wanted Glen to end up dead.”

The trial, before Justice Lex Lasry, continues.