Darren Mark Wake expected to plead guilty over ex-wife’s Christmas Day death
A Hobart man is expected to soon plead guilty over his former wife’s death, which occurred on Christmas Day 2021, with the woman allegedly stabbed in front of her teenage children.
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Almost two years after the Christmas Day death of Hobart midwife Rachel Wake, her former husband is expected to plead guilty in court.
Darren Mark Wake, 61, was expected to enter the guilty plea in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Monday – more than a year after he first pleaded not guilty to murder and flagged his intentions to stand trial.
However his lawyer, Fabiano Cangelosi, asked Justice Helen Wood for a two-week adjournment, saying Mr Wake had only received a copy of the Crown facts that morning.
A Crown prosecutor urged Justice Wood to only give Mr Wake a short adjournment period, given it was a “very serious matter” and it had been noted for some time the case was expected to resolve with a plea of guilty.
She said certainty was required for the family of Ms Wake.
Mr Wake was remanded in custody, to return to court on December 11 to enter a plea.
Ms Wake, 52, died at the Royal Hobart Hospital on December 25, 2021.
She was allegedly stabbed at her home on Binalong Road, Mornington, earlier the same day in front of her two teenage children.
Mr Wake’s original plea of not guilty came 10 months after Ms Wake’s death, and following repeated adjournments in the magistrates court.
Ms Wake’s death shook the Hobart community and led to an outpouring of grief on social media from women she’d helped as a nurse and midwife.
A GoFundMe page raised more than $100,000 for her children.
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Originally published as Darren Mark Wake expected to plead guilty over ex-wife’s Christmas Day death
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