A Wellington butcher "lost his mind" and stabbed his wife to death in a "frenzied explosion of passion", a High Court jury was told today.
Emani Tinoa'i, 48, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife Moliga Tatupu-Tinoa'i, 42, on the forecourt of the Johnsonville Mobil station on March 14 last year.
Summing up the case in the High Court at Wellington today, defence lawyer Mike Antunovic said Tinoa'i was provoked by long-standing problems within his marriage, including his wife's infidelity.
"This was a killing by a human being in deep despair," he said.
Tinoa'i had long suspected his wife of cheating and had decided to give her "one last chance".
He went to her work and waited in her car with "five or six" beers and a knife.
Mr Antunovic said Tinoa'i wanted to talk to his wife and work through their problems but he "snapped" when she attempted to avoid the discussion by getting out of the car.
"Her getting out of the car triggered this frenzied explosion of passion," he said.
"The entire time that knife was in his hand he was out of control. He snapped. A seemingly minor act, he lost all control."
Mr Antunovic said Tinoa'i slashed wildly, striking his wife 18 times, including the final blow on the forecourt.
Tinoa'i's calm, dazed state after the attack was further evidence he had temporary lost his mind, he said.
Giving evidence earlier this week through an interpreter, Tinoa'i told the jury how he lost control in the moments just prior to the stabbing saying he had never felt that way before.
He said he began to suspect his wife was having an affair as early as 2007 and that their relationship was becoming more and more strained in the period leading up to the stabbing.
He said he thought his suspicions were confirmed when he saw what he thought was a "love bite" on his wife's chest the night before the attack.
Summing up the Crown case, prosecutor Grant Burston said Tinoa'i had a history of violence toward his wife and repeatedly threatened to kill her.
"This killing was not a case of self control, this was the final expression of Mr Tinoa'i's attempts to control his wife," he said.
"He threatened to kill her and he did."
Mr Burston said Tinoa'i planned to kill his wife if she did not admit to having an affair.
"It was a planned, calculated, controlled exercise of free will."
The number of times Mrs Tinoa'i was stabbed was not an indication of a frenzied attack, he said.
Earlier in the trial, Constable Rachael Dundon, the officer in charge of Mrs Tinao'i's body, told the court Mrs Tinao'i was stabbed so hard the knife fused to her spine and a section of vertebrae had to be surgically removed to free the knife.
"His reaction was an extreme one ... he was angry about having lost control of his wife," Mr Burston said.
The jury was expected to retire this afternoon.
