By Adam Cooper
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following story contains an image of a deceased person.
Noeline Dalzell’s teenage children were shielding her from the man who had verbally abused her and used knives to scare and intimidate them over the years.
Police at the scene after the stabbing.Credit: Nine News
But on February 4 last year, despite their screams at him to leave their mother alone, James Fairhall reached over two of the children in a bedroom to stab his former partner in the neck and inflict a fatal wound.
Ms Dalzell made it out of the house in Seaford, south-east of Melbourne, after her son tackled Fairhall to the floor, and told a neighbour to call the police. But the 49-year-old collapsed and died soon after.
Fairhall, 46, was on Tuesday found guilty of murdering Ms Dalzell, following a Supreme Court trial where a jury was shown the pre-recorded evidence of the pair’s son and two daughters, who came home from school that day to find their parents arguing.
The pair had separated and an intervention order against Fairhall returning to the family home was in place, but he had been staying there for about two months, sleeping on the couch.
Noeline Dalzell was murdered by her former partner.
They were getting along, the trial heard, until Fairhall learned Ms Dalzell had begun a relationship with another man.
Prosecutor Jane Warren last week told the jury that within days of learning of the new relationship, Fairhall went into a jealous rage and held a knife against his former partner as they sat in the lounge. When she walked away, he sat in the hall as Ms Dalzell and two of the children went inside the son’s bedroom.
“This was not a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment act,” Ms Warren said.
“The accused sat there, having minutes prior held the knife against Noeline’s throat in the lounge room, the same knife, and I suggest to you he paused and he contemplated what he was about to do, and then he went forward and he did it.”
At the start of the trial, Fairhall pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter, as he accepted he killed Ms Dalzell and that his actions were unlawful and dangerous but said he didn’t intend to kill. But prosecutors didn’t accept that plea and pushed for a murder conviction.
Ms Warren told the jury Fairhall threatened to kill Ms Dalzell when he stormed into the bedroom, and that his intent was to kill or at the very least inflict serious injury.
He had for years been verbally abusive towards Ms Dalzell and had pulled out knives and scissors to intimidate or threaten her, the trial heard. The children – aged 16, 15 and 13 at the time – said he became angry and abusive when he drank alcohol.
Ms Dalzell’s sister-in-law, Jenny, welcomed the verdict, given the impact the trial had on the children.
“You can imagine the enormity on them of [appearing in] a murder trial against their father,” she said. “But we weren’t only doing this for the kids, but for Noeline too. Her senseless killing has left these kids orphaned, virtually.
“For them to go up against their father, that was a real sense of duty to their mum, I believe.
“They’ve been so brave. Everyone who’s come [in contact with] them – the police, the barristers – they’re just amazed how they’ve handled themselves. But this is life-altering and ongoing for the rest of their lives.”
Jenny Dalzell said Fairhall’s history of verbal abuse and threats meant there were times Ms Dalzell and the children slept in parks for their safety, as authorities never found them alternative accommodation. The family now wants Ms Dalzell’s death to be investigated by a coroner.
“Someone has to be accountable. There were red flags everywhere. I want to take it a lot further,” Jenny Dalzell said.
Justice Jane Dixon remanded Fairhall in custody for a pre-sentence hearing next year.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or beyondblue 1300 224 636.
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