A Victorian father of two was upset his wife of 21 years wanted to divorce him, so he stabbed her with a kitchen knife until she was dead.
Catherine Elizabeth Browning died in her daughter's bed in Skye where she had gone to sleep after attending a Christmas party in 2013.
Brian Robert Browning tapped her on the shoulder to wake her early on the morning of December 19 then stabbed her 15 times with a kitchen knife.
When the couple's teenage daughter Amy came running at the sound of her mother's screams, she saw her father holding a knife.
He uttered the word "bitch" before throwing the knife away.
After his arrest, he pleaded not guilty to murder.
Browning, a strongly-built man who used to work as a baker, claimed during his trial his actions were a result of a drug-induced psychosis caused by taking too many sleeping pills.
Defence barrister George Georgiou SC said he had been taking Restavit, which contains doxylamine a drug he said was known to have "adverse effects".
Mr Georgiou said Browning was depressed at the prospect of his divorce and had started taking Restavit because he couldn't sleep.
Dr Lester Walton told the trial he had never seen a doxylamine-induced psychosis.
The jury rejected Browning's defence and on Friday he was jailed for 18 years with a non-parole period of 14 years.
Having already served 660 days, he could be eligible for release in about 12 years.
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry, in sentencing, said fatal domestic violence was "all to familiar".
Justice Lasry said Browning took his wife's life in circumstances where her conduct could not have contributed to what occurred.
"She was asleep in her bed," Justice Lasry said.
"You woke her to kill her."
Outside the court, Catherine Browning's mother Anne Spark said the sentence could never be enough.
"It's just (that) we've never seen any remorse," Mrs Spark told reporters on Friday.
She said her daughter was beautiful and had a good sense of humour.
"At least he was found guilty of murder. I was thankful for that because I felt she got justice then," she said.
Share
