16 years for man who stabbed wife to death in Auburn carpark

A MAN who fatally stabbed his estranged wife 56 times with a pair of scissors “in brutal circumstances” in an Auburn carpark will spend 16 years behind
bars.

Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei, 34, will be eligible for release in 2030 for the “ferocious” attack on 26-year-old Leila Alavi in January last year.

He will be eligible for parole after 15 years and nine months.

Ms Alavi had arrived to her work at a hair studio when Hosseiniamraei contacted her and asked her to meet him in the carpark.

Ms Alavi’s family, including sister Mitra, broke down in tears during the hearing.

He stabbed her in the head, neck and shoulders with a pair of scissors he had earlier stolen from a supermarket.

Court documents show that Ms Alavi had taken out an AVO against Hosseiniamraei, which he was also guilty of breaching.

In handing down his sentencing to the charge of murder at the Supreme Court this afternoon, Justice Robert Allan Hulme said Ms Alavi’s “dying moments must have been absolutely terrifying”.

He said that Hosseiniamraei had showed a “breathtakingly arrogant and misogynistic attitude” to his estranged wife’s decision to determine her own destiny.

That man killed my sister

He said the offender maintained that his wife was not obeying the rule of marriage and that he was “a larger man” attacking a smaller defenceless woman in a confined space where she could not escape.

“Those who feel they are entitled to take advantage of a position of power and dominance in an intimate relationship must know that violence fuelled by anger, jealousy feelings of being dishonoured, revenge or the like will be severely punished,” he said.

Ms Alavi’s family, including sister Mitra, broke down in tears during the hearing.

In a victim impact statement tendered to court she said: “Leila was beautiful and kind. We saw each other every day.

“The impact from this man who took the life of my sister is that he has destroyed my life.

“I have to see a psychologist because of the impact of what he did to my sister.”

Afterwards Mitra proclaimed outside court: “That man killed my sister” and that she was “not good”.

Hosseiniamraei, a refugee who fled Iran because of religious persecution, remained calm throughout the sentencing hearing and waved to a supporter of his family when he was led out of the court.