A Perth man who tried to convince a jury his partner of four years died after a knife that was holding up a curtain fell and accidently impaled her has been jailed for life.
Christopher Dimer, 43, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Shauna Lee Rose Headland, who died in Nollamara in March 2022 from a knife wound that pierced an artery between her neck and shoulder.
Christopher Dimer, 43, was sentenced over the death of his partner in 2022.Credit: Facebook
The matter went to trial, where Dimer tried to convince the jury Headland’s death was an accident and that knives were commonly used in their house to hold up curtains.
But it took the jury just two hours to respond with a guilty verdict.
Dimer’s defence lawyer Simon Freitag read out a letter of apology from his client during his sentencing in the Supreme Court of WA on Friday, where the Victoria Park man said he “was at a loss as what happened” to his partner on the night she died, calling her his “baby”.
“I have a long road ahead of me living without my baby Shauna,” he said.
“I already have a life sentence hanging over me living without her.”
State prosecutors said Dimer should be classified as a high risk serious offender, because this was his fourth incident of domestic violence.
The court heard the 43-year-old had three prior domestic violence convictions – two against two separate women, and one previous conviction for violence against Headland, his partner of four years.
On one occasion, he had pushed a woman into oncoming traffic while she was temporarily confined to a wheelchair. In 2020, Dimer was convicted of assaulting Headland when he punched her repeatedly at a train station, where transit officers were forced to step in.
Prosecutor Paul Usher said there was a pattern of behaviour towards women, but Dimer, in his letter to the court, denied he had a history of domestic violence.
Shauna Headland died at the hands of her partner in 2022.Credit: Facebook
“During these court proceedings I heard a lot of people saying me and Shauna were in a domestic violence relationship,” he said.
“I made one big mistake. I have regretted it ever since.”
Dimer also had a history of other offences, including the sexual penetration of a child, drug offences, stealing and weapons offences.
Outside court, Headland’s mother Janis said Dimer was “a very violent man” and, inside court, gave a moving victim impact statement, describing the impact of her daughter’s death their family.
She told the court her daughter, who was just 26 years old when she died, always put others before herself.
“She was so loving, caring and kind,” Janis said.
Headland’s brother described her as “one of a kind”.
“She was the type of person who kept our family together,” he said.
The court was told Dimer and Headland had been drinking, smoking cannabis and taking methamphetamine on the day of her death.
They were staying with Headland’s sister when they became embroiled in an argument because Dimer wanted to go home but had no money for a taxi.
The court heard the argument escalated and Dimer hit the 26 year old in the face and threw a pair of scissors at her before stabbing her with the knife.
He then fled the house and hid in a nearby bush for 30 minutes until he was found by police and arrested.
Dimer maintained his innocence, but Justice Joseph McGrath sentenced him to a term of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 years.
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