The three children of Noeline Dalzell desperately tried to protect their beloved mum from their murderous father as he attacked her with a knife.
Despite the teenagers’ screams and attempts to protect the 49-year-old woman their dad James Leonard Fairhall fatally stabbed her in the neck in February 2020.
A jury deliberated for three xjmtzywdays before they found the 47-year-old guilty of murder after a trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court last year.
Fairhall returned to court on Thursday for a pre-sentence hearing where his three children – Zachary, Olivia and Paige – explained how the crime left them angry, frustrated and alone.
“I get mad with my friends when they complain about their parents being too strict or something … and I say I don't have any parents so don‘t say that; it makes me angry and sad,” Paige said.
Her brother Zachary said he tried not to think about the day his mum was killed and youngest sister Olivia said living without her day to day was hard.
Malcolm Dalzell told the court he tried to warn his sister and protect her from the man who killed her.
“I always worried something would happen to Noeline and I feel like I’ve failed her and the children,” he said.
Fairhall flew into a jealous rage after he learnt his ex-partner started seeing another man and in the lead-up to the crime sent him threatening texts, the court was told.
On the day of the murder the three kids found Ms Dalzell and Fairhall fighting in the lounge room after school and Fairhall held a knife to her throat.
She ran into a bedroom as her children tried to protect her but Fairhall stormed in and threatened to kill her.
The mum and two of the children tried to shield her, but an enraged Fairhall barged through them and stabbed Ms Dalzell in her neck.
Middle child Zachary – who was 15 at the time of the crime – was able to tackle his father to the ground after the stabbing and helped his mum to a neighbour’s house before she collapsed outside, the court was told.
But Fairhall followed and threatened the neighbour with a knife as he called triple-0 in a bid to help the dying woman.
“Don’t call the cops, don’t do that,” the killer told the other man as he wielded the blade.
Violence marred Ms Dalzell and Fairhall’s on-off relationship.
The court was told he verbally abused Ms Dalzell throughout their relationship and threatened her with knives and scissors.
At the start of the trial Fairhall pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but prosecutors pushed jurors to find him guilty of murder.
Defence lawyer Jarrod Williams told the court on Thursday that his client was an alcoholic, witnessed violence in his home from a young age and showed a degree of remorse.
Justice Jane Dixon will sentence him at a later date.
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