Malcolm Abbott, 50, sentenced to life in prison for murdering his partner, a prominent anti-domestic violence campaigner

A man who repeatedly drove over his partner, a prominent anti-domestic violence campaigner, will spend at least 25 years behind bars for her brutal murder in a hospital carpark.

A MAN who repeatedly drove over his partner, a prominent Central Australian anti-domestic violence campaigner, will spend at least 25 years behind bars for her brutal murder in a hospital carpark.

Malcolm Abbott, 50, sat emotionless in the dock at the NT Supreme Court on Friday, while dozens of family members of both the deceased and the accused watched on from the courtroom in Alice Springs.

R. Rubuntja, a founding member of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene on January 7, 2021, after Abbott drove a Ford Falcon at the 46-year-old around 9.30pm.

The shocking attack was captured on CCTV.

She had recently travelled to Parliament House in Canberra to speak with federal politicians about the ongoing scourge of domestic violence in Central Australia.

Abbott has a long history of horrific domestic ­violence, including a manslaughter conviction from 1997 in which he stabbed two women, killing one of them.

The court heard Abbott and Ms Rubuntja had known each other since they were children but had only been in a domestic relationship for about two years and did not have children together. Ms Rubuntja had children from previous relationships.

R Rubuntja was a staunch domestic violence advocate for Indigenous women and children in Alice Springs. Image used with permission of family. Picture: Supplied.

Around 1pm on the day of the murder, Abbott, his younger brother Gavin, and Ms Rubuntja travelled from the Anthepe town camp to the Gillen Club, where they were drinking alcohol and playing the pokies.

Several extended family members were also at the pub.

The court heard when they left around 4pm, Ms Rubuntja had been angry at Abbott and in CCTV footage can be seen throwing a rock at him on the way out of the pub.

The group drove to a house on Albrecht Drive to visit a friend, who handed Abbott $100.

Ms Rubuntja expressed her desire to return to the Gillen Club as she “had a feeling” she was going to win money on the pokies. The group returned around 5.20pm

The court heard about an hour later Ms Rubuntja won a major prize of $550 on one of the machines.

Abbott became angry at Ms Rubuntja after she refused to give him any of the money and began purchasing alcohol for a family member with the winnings.

Around 8.20pm, Abbott walked over to the family member, pointed to her, and said something in Arrernte which she understood to mean “I will kill you”.

Soon after, at Ms Rubuntja’s request, a security guard removed Abbott from the premises. As he left, Abbott told Ms Rubuntja he “will go get a gun and shoot you”, the court heard.

Ms Rubuntja was also asked to leave the pub because she was intoxicated, and as she did so she could be heard saying “I feel scared”.

Asked about the car’s damage, Malcolm Abbott said he had “just bumped the gate”. Picture: Supplied.

When Ms Rubuntja’s daughter called to ask where she was, the 46-year-old replied that “Malcolm is half killing me”.

When her daughter called again, Ms Rubuntja answered but said she couldn’t tell her where she was because “Malcolm is going to hit me in the car”.

After the pair refuelled the car on Gap Rd, CCTV footage shows Ms Rubuntja walking across the road to the hospital and sitting up against a wall, while Abbott loitered in the area, circling the carpark at least five times.

The court heard Abbott had been trying to convince Ms Rubuntja to go home, but she refused.

At 9.37pm, Abbott returned to the carpark, pointing the car in the direction of Ms Rubuntja.

As she attempted to stand up, Abbott accelerated the Ford Falcon towards her, mounting the kerb and striking the 46-year-old.

Abbott then reversed the vehicle while his partner was trapped underneath. He then switched gears and drove forward, and then repeated the manoeuvre. The court heard when he drove forward a second time, the vehicle’s tyres continued to spin, and created smoke.

The court heard Ms Rubuntja was dragged along the bitumen while trapped underneath the vehicle as Abbott proceeded to drive around the hospital’s carpark.

The 46-year-old was left motionless on the road.

Blood stains were present on the footpath where Malcolm Abbott struck his partner in a Ford Falcon. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Rubuntja was declared dead at 10.10pm, with a post-mortem revealing the injuries she suffered, including left and right broken arms, left and right broken legs, broken ribs, head injuries, fracturing of the spine and abrasions to 40 per cent of her body. Her cause of death was determined to be from “multiple and unsurvivable blunt force injuries”.

When Abbott returned to his home at Abbott’s town camp, a community member asked him what had happened to the car, to which he responded: “I just bumped the gate.” He was arrested by police later that night.

In a victim impact statement, members of Ms Rubuntja’s family described her as being a “happy, loving person who was now deeply missed”.

“She was a Christian who attended church on Sunday and would take her grandchildren with her,” they wrote.

“She was a good mother.”

Family members highlighted Ms Rubuntja’s efforts to effect change in the domestic violence sphere, including her leadership role in Central Australia, which grapples with highest rates of domestic violence in Australia.

“It is really sad she died this way at the hands of her partner when she was working so hard to make that stop for other women,” they wrote.

“Her death is a tragedy for her family and friends, but also for the wider community. It arose out of the domestic violence that she was working so hard to remove from our society.”

In sentencing, Justice Trevor Riley said there were “disturbing similarities” with Abbott’s previous domestic violence offending and that the 50-year-old’s prospects for rehabilitation were “very poor”.

In an unusual act, Abbott entered an early guilty plea, which the court heard was “to save” Ms Rubuntja’s family from further grief that was likely to be caused by a trial.

Tensions ran high between the two families as they left the building, with several family members shouting at each other as they headed away from the court in opposite ­directions.

Abbott will be 75 years old before he is eligible to apply for parole.

Malcolm Abbott pleads guilty to brutal murder of partner

A CENTRAL Australian man who repeatedly drove over his partner, and dragged her around a hospital car park while she was trapped beneath his vehicle, has pleaded guilty to murder.

Malcolm Abbott, 50, sat emotionless in the dock at the NT Supreme Court on Friday, while dozens of family members of both the deceased and the victim watched on from the courthouse in Alice Springs.

R. Rubuntja, a prominent anti-domestic violence campaigner for Indigenous women, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene on January 7, 2021 after Abbott drove a Ford Falcon at the 46-year-old around 9.30pm.

Months earlier, she had travelled to Parliament House in Canberra to speak with federal politicians about the ongoing scourge of domestic violence in Central Australia.

Abbott also pleaded guilty to charges relating to driving the vehicle without a licence and while heavily intoxicated on the night of the murder.

Abbott is expected to be sentenced on Friday afternoon.

The NT News has been given permission to use a photo of R. Rubuntja by the Tangentyere Council, via her family.

Originally published as Malcolm Abbott, 50, sentenced to life in prison for murdering his partner, a prominent anti-domestic violence campaigner