Dinush Kurera found guilty of brutally murdering his estranged wife with an axe

Dinush Kurera, 47, has been found guilty of murder after he butchered his estranged wife Nelomie Perera to death with an axe in 2022.

Dinush Kurera. 47, has been found guilty of brutally murdering his wife with an axe in 2022. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

A cowardly husband who butchered his estranged wife with an axe in front of their children has been found guilty of murder.

Dinush Kurera, 47, killed his wife Nelomie Perera, 43, in what was described as a “sustained, brutal and vicious attack” after he broke into their Sandhurst home in Melbourne’s southeast.

Despite suffering no injuries, Kurera claimed his wife attacked him first with a knife before he killed her in self-defence.

He faced a five-week Supreme Court trial but it took a 12-person less than three hours of deliberations on Friday to reject his lies and convict him of murder.

Seated in the dock wearing a black suit and white shirt, Kurera, who was moved into protective custody after he was assaulted by another prisoner during his trial, showed no emotion as he learnt his fate.

He was also found guilty of assaulting his son during the same attack.

Kurera pleaded not guilty to the charges, but today was found guilty by a jury. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

The trial heard the couple’s relationship was marred by violence, and the mother-of-three had previously reported her husband to police but withdrew her complaint.

Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson KC said Kurera killed his wife because he “was fuelled by a deep-seated hatred for her for the way he perceived he had been treated by her”.

“It’s something he would not tolerate from his estranged wife,” he said.

In the lead-up to her murder, Ms Perera told her husband over the phone she wanted to end their marriage and sell their home after she learnt he was having an affair with a woman in Sri Lanka where he had been residing for several months.

Two days after he flew back to Melbourne, Kurera broke into the property via a back fence and ambushed Ms Perera as she stepped outside for a cigarette on the evening of December 3, 2022.

He was wearing dark-coloured clothing and gloves and carrying a jerry can filled with petrol and a hatchet he had purchased just hours earlier.

The couple’s two teenage children — who had to give evidence at the trial — rushed downstairs after hearing their mother’s screams, finding her bleeding on the ground and their father raising the hatchet.

He told them if they called police, he would set fire to the home and kill all of them, including himself.

Dinush Kurera (Right) has been found guilty the murder of his ex-partner, Nelomie Perera, who was found dead in her Sandhurst home December 3, 2022. Picture: Supplied

Ms Perera desperately pleaded with her husband to call an ambulance, but he refused, instead ushering the family into the living room.

Kurera told them he would be staying at the home, and berated his wife saying she had ruined his life.

He asked his children if she had been seeing other men, and when their teenage son confirmed she had, flew into a fit of rage.

Kurera attacked his wife with the hatchet, striking her multiple times in the chest, before turning on the couple’s son as he tried to escape via a back door.

The court heard Ms Perera died on the kitchen floor after suffering 35 individual blows from the axe and a knife retrieved from the kitchen.

The couple’s son was struck in the head and knee as he defended himself with a chair, before he was able to run onto the street and raise the alarm with neighbours.

“I killed my wife, she’s dead over there,” Kurera told police at the scene.

The couple’s children had to give evidence at the trial, with Kurera’s barrister John Desmond suggesting they had fabricated their stories.

Kurera will face a presentence hearing later this year.