Mum collapses as son's killer not guilty

28 Sep 2012, 4:08 pm   -   Source: AAP

A Sydney woman who stabbed her partner in the chest during a domestic dispute has been found not guilty of murder.

A Sydney woman who was found not guilty of murder after she fatally stabbed her partner in the chest during a domestic dispute says she feels no responsibility for his death.

Dramatic scenes erupted outside the NSW Supreme Court on Friday after Lena Kasparian, 33, was found not guilty of murdering her partner, Marc Zartarian, 33, at their home at Wetherill Park in southwest Sydney on May 1 last year.

Mr Zartarian's mother, Katia, collapsed outside the court after the verdict was handed down, while enraged family members screamed and shouted, "It's not fair" and "She killed him in cold blood".

Ms Zartarian, who flew in from Lebanon for the trial, was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Ms Kasparian put her face in her hands and sobbed silently when she was cleared of murder and said she was "relieved" at the verdict.

"I am saddened and there are no winners, but unfortunately what happened happened and we can move on from here now," she told reporters outside court.

When asked if she felt any responsibility for what happened, Ms Kasparian replied, "No".

Mr Zartarian died five days after the stabbing, which was witnessed by two small children who were in the house at the time.

The trial, which lasted just over three days, heard the pair argued after celebrating a one-year-old's birthday party, where Mr Zartarian had been drinking alcohol.

He threw a glass of Coke over Ms Kasparian, who responded by throwing a wine glass at him.

He then slapped her and hit her over the head with a stainless steel saucepan and she picked up a kitchen knife, the court heard.

Mr Zartarian walked towards Ms Kasparian saying "stab me, stab me, just do it, just do it", before she stabbed him in the chest, causing a 15mm wound, and locked herself in a laundry room.

At first Mr Zartarian seemed to be fine and was walking around the house, but then he struggled to breathe and collapsed.

The court heard Ms Kasparian was "hysterical" when police and paramedics arrived, telling them that she loved him and to "please keep him alive".

"I don't need this on my conscience," she told police at the scene.

Crown prosecutor Pat Barrett said the jury should find Ms Kasparian guilty of murder on the grounds she stabbed Mr Zartarian "with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm or that she did so foreseeing the risk that death could occasion from stabbing him in the chest".

Defence barrister Peter Doyle said Ms Kasparian was acting in self-defence at the time of the incident.

Before the jury of nine women and three men returned its verdict, Justice Peter Garling warned members of the public gallery to listen to it "with respect and in silence".

But once he told Ms Kasparian she was free to go and adjourned court, members of Mr Zartarian's family started shouting.

"A young handsome boy is under the ground and she walks away scot free," Mr Zartarian's aunt, Rita Keosseian, said outside court.

"I don't think the justice system is fair. It needs to be changed."

Ms Keosseian described her nephew as a "beautiful young man" who had no history of domestic violence.

"She's done it, and she's got away with it," Mr Zartarian's uncle, George Minassian, added.

"We need justice."

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