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Courtroom outburst: Murderer calls prosecutor a ‘lying cow’ in dramatic meltdown

A WOMAN who murdered her new boyfriend with a large carving knife after accusing him of killing her cat has lashed out in an emotional outburst.

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A WOMAN who murdered her new boyfriend by stabbing him in the back with a large carving knife has called a prosecutor a “lying cow” in an emotional courtroom outburst.

Rachel Impson screamed that the prosecutor had “accused me of things I didn’t do” after she broke down following her evidence at a New South Wales Supreme Court sentence hearing in Sydney on Wednesday.

Impson was found guilty in April of murdering Michael Insley on Windang’s Picnic Island, in NSW’s Lake Illawarra region, on the night of October 26, 2014.

While the 42-year-old had always admitted killing Mr Insley, her lawyer argued at trial that she was substantially impaired due to her bipolar affective disorder and borderline personality disorder.

The court previously heard that Impson, a NSW itinerant, accused her new boyfriend of killing her cat before telling him to “watch your back”.

Jurors were told that while the evidence would make her sound “like a horrible, manipulative woman”, they should remember there was a psychiatric reason for this.

Mr Insley met Impson weeks before his stabbing and his parents agreed she could move in with the family as she had nowhere else to live.

They later moved into a tent on Picnic Island.

“The Crown says the accused had a tendency to make false allegations of abuse against people she had lived with,” prosecutor Donna Daleo told the jury in April.

Linda Reynolds, sister of Michael Insley, speaks to the media outside the Supreme Court in Sydney, Wednesday, August 22, 2018. Picture: AAP /Joel Carrett.
Linda Reynolds, sister of Michael Insley, speaks to the media outside the Supreme Court in Sydney, Wednesday, August 22, 2018. Picture: AAP /Joel Carrett.

Mr Insley told friends that Impson was falsely telling people he had abused her.

When her cat Angel went missing, the RSPCA shelter rang her to say the cat was found run over, Ms Daleo said.

While she did not say anything to the caller about anyone being responsible for the death, she later accused Mr Insley of killing Angel.

He denied the claims, telling a friend: “She’s crazy.”

After stabbing Mr Insley, Impson told police: “I am the victim … I was just defending myself … I had a knife, he had an umbrella.”

megan.palin@news.com.au | @Megan_Palin

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/courtroom-outburst-murderer-calls-prosecutor-a-lying-cow-in-dramatic-meltdown/news-story/314d7257cc9fb1a52a36e017bfed23dc