Sydney man guilty of wife's stabbing death

A jury has found a man who stabbed his wife multiple times in the kitchen of their Sydney home guilty of murder.

A man who stabbed his wife 16 times in their Sydney kitchen has been found guilty of murder.

The convicting jury rejected the premise Andrzej Gierczynski was substantially impaired at the time of the attack, when he claimed he heard a voice ordering him to kill.

Gierczynski broke down continuously during the past three weeks as the NSW Supreme Court heard how he had stabbed his wife Danuta Gierczynski in the head, neck and chest in their Chipping Norton home in October 2010.

The 60-year-old had pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming he heard a voice saying: "Kill, Kill".

But on Thursday the jury rejected this defence and handed down a guilty verdict.

The court previously heard the Polish couple's relationship was marred by domestic violence, suspicion and jealousy.

Kazimierz Kulpa - a former friend of the couple - said he saw Gierczynski take a swing at Danuta because the chicken she cooked was cold during dinner one night.

Her daughter and colleagues reported seeing her with black eyes.

In giving evidence at his trial, the former carpet cleaner said he felt he did not get enough affection or sex from his wife and believed she was having an affair from about 1996 onwards.

At one point he was so "morbidly jealous" he inspected her genitalia, the court heard.

The 60-year-old, who denied ever hurting his wife, said he had seen ghosts, an angel, and observed a statue of the Virgin Mary closing her eyes while he was praying.

The NSW Supreme Court heard that the couple's adult son Daniel had been in bed when he heard his mother screaming.

After entering the kitchen, crown prosecutor Eric Balodis said Daniel saw his father stabbing his mother.

Once he eventually wrested him off her, Daniel called police.

Black and white footage captured on a police officer's Taser shows Gierczynski sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette when they arrived.


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2 min read

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Source: AAP


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