Woman who killed her husband jailed for 20yrs

By TREVOR WAHUNE
A WOMAN, 60, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing her husband after an argument.
Judge Panuel Mogish found Theresa Kamo Mathew guilty of killing her husband Kassman Karo on Nov 9, 2015, at Konedobu in Port Moresby.
She pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. Mathew, from Tapini in Central, and Ka had two daughters.
Justice Mogish found that the evidence against Mathew was largely circumstantial.
“None of the witnesses saw the actual stabbing. Her two daughters saw their parents and then left to go upstairs. They heard the deceased calling out for help and ran down the stairs where they saw the deceased lying on the ground,” he said.
“One of the daughters held the deceased and saw blood on his chest. At the time, they saw no other person except their father and their mother. The deceased was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead as a result of the wound on his chest.”
The court was told that Mathew had a kitchen knife, which police took from her. It was exhibited in court as evidence.
Mathew denied fighting and stabbing her husband, saying he had died from asthma.
Justice Mogish said the mitigating factor was that she had no previous conviction.
The aggravating factors were that Mathew had used a dangerous weapon, Karo was stabbed on the chest, and the substantial effect on the daughters and his relatives.
“The aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factor,” Justice Mogish said.
“The element of the viciousness and intent to cause grievous bodily harm can be illustrated in the nature of the injury the deceased suffered, and the use of dangerous weapon. He ordered that two years and 11 months of the time she spent on remand be deducted from the sentence.