Rimoni Muliaga, his wife Lise and their children in happier times (image: undefined)
A Samoan father of five, consumed by ‘morbid jealousy’ over unfounded suspicions that his wife was having an affair with his brother, brutally murdered her with a knife.
Rimoni Muliaga, 44, repeatedly plunged a large kitchen knife into Lise Muliaga, 37, in the garden of her brother’s bungalow in Melton South, on the outskirts of Melbourne, on September 18, 2023, just weeks after the family moved from New Zealand.
Their three young children, aged 12, seven and five, witnessed the horrific attack and its shocking outcome.
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On Wednesday Victoria Supreme Court Justice James Gorton condemned Muliaga for murder.
Addressing Muliaga, he said, “You stabbed your wife Lise several times with a kitchen knife. You did this in front of your children in the backyard of your brother’s house.”
“You stabbed her because you mistakenly believed she was having an affair with your brother.”
The judge described the murder as ‘an act of the most serious domestic violence against an innocent and unarmed woman’ which ‘requires grave condemnation’.
Muliyaga had quarreled with his wife that morning after she accused him of having an affair – a suspicion he had harbored for some time, despite it being completely unfounded.
rimoni muliaga murdered his wife (image: undefined)
The dispute escalated at the bungalow after he returned from a walk, where his three children were present.
The court was told that Muliaga attacked his wife with a knife, stabbing her four times – twice in the right shoulder, once in the left upper chest and once in the left breast.
The fatal injury was a 9.5 cm stab wound to the upper chest that severed two ribs, severed two major blood vessels, resulting in considerable blood loss, punctured the chest cavity and damaged a lung.
Mrs Muliaga fought for her life, suffering defensive knife wounds to her arms as he desperately tried to save her.
Justice Gorton said, “This was a horrific and violent death.”
The court heard how one of the couple’s young daughters ran towards the main house screaming.
When family members ran into the backyard, they found Mrs. Muliaga sitting on the ground, with the knife still stuck in her shoulder, bleeding heavily.
Muliyaga was seen standing over him.
His sister-in-law shouted at him, questioning his actions.
New South Wales (NSW) Police Tape (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The killer ran into the street but later claimed: ‘Lise and (her brother) were sleeping together.’
Muliyaga’s brother dialed triple zero and performed CPR, but despite briefly restoring a heartbeat, Mrs Muliyaga was declared dead at 2.33pm.
Muliyaga was captured nearby, his hands still covered in blood.
The court was informed that he repeatedly requested police for his ‘mental health medication’ and said he had not taken it since the previous day.
Justice Gorton said Muliaga seemed genuinely shocked and distraught upon learning of his wife’s death, even requesting that he telephone her. A jury found Muliaga guilty of murder in December after a trial during which he admitted to the stabbing but disputed his motives.
Justice Gorton sentenced Muliaga on the understanding that he had stabbed his wife with intent to cause ‘actually grievous hurt’, without regard to whether she survived or perished.
The judge said the attack was spontaneous, not planned, yet completely unprovoked.
Justice Gorton said that the fact that the three children witnessed the brutal death of their mother was an aggravating circumstance which increased the objective seriousness of the crime.
The court heard Muliaga was born in Samoa in 1981, one of nine siblings, and had a troubled childhood due to physical abuse.
The court heard that Muliaga’s IQ was only 61, placing him in the bottom 0.5 per cent of the population and bordering on intellectual disability, along with impaired executive functioning and inflexible thinking.
He had a history of mental health difficulties, including depression with psychotic features and a prior diagnosis of schizophrenia in New Zealand.
A forensic psychiatrist who evaluated Muliaga concluded that he was suffering from a major depressive disorder rather than schizophrenia.
While the court determined that the condition mitigated his moral culpability, Justice Gorton stressed that it would not acquit him of the crime. Justice Gorton said Muliaga understood his actions were wrong. The court heard about Muliaga’s history of violent conduct towards Lise, including one occasion when her brother found him on top of her and another occasion when his sister-in-law saw him with his arm around her neck.
Her children, who are now living with the support of family, gave victim impact statements, describing how they were coping with life without their mother and the trauma of learning that their father murdered them.
Muliaga, who is not an Australian citizen, is expected to face deportation upon release.
Justice Gorton sentenced Muliaga to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years and six months.
He had spent 919 days in custody before sentencing.
