Inconsistent stories around the death of a man caught cheating should be discarded and his jilted lover found guilty of murder, a jury has been told.
Jenny Niguidula told police that she woke up on November 17, 2019, and heard her then lover Rhonie Apostol making gurgling sounds from the bathroom of their Sydney home.
Finding him with a stab wound to his chest and a kitchen knife with a 12cm blade nearby, she said she attempted to treat his injuries before paramedics were called. The 53-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
On trial in the NSW Supreme Court, Niguidula has pleaded not guilty to murder but has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
On Tuesday, crown prosecutor Christopher Taylor said this plea was an admission that she killed Ms Apostol.
This differed from prior versions told to police at their South Wentworthville home and in an interview at Granville Police Station.
“Clearly it's a false version of events," Mr Taylor told the jury.
Niguidula was having an affair with Mr Apostol after she married his brother-in-law Jonathan Olivares.
On November 10, 2019, the pair arrived at Sydney International Airport on a flight from Manila when she learned he had been seeing a nurse in the Philippines for nine years.
CCTV footage showed her punching Mr Apostol in the head outside the airport and throwing his phone at him.
Niguidula had been "fuming" before stabbing her lover, in comparison to claims the pair were rekindling their love through dancing and dates, jurors heard.
When police were called after the 53-year-old's death, Niguidula said his injuries were caused by his "stupidity" including by having an electric fan he was installing fall on his head.
Other details including that she did not remember what happened when her lover was stabbed and that they had not argued before the death changed as she talked with different people, Mr Taylor said.
In her police interview, she said Mr Apostol was going out to buy her some Airpods before his death.
However, at the morgue she said he had discussed seeing a movie and the couple had talked about burying their baby girl who was "in the freezer".
Jurors previously heard she had tried IVF and had lost her baby in December 2018.
Prosecutors say her intent to kill was shown by the location of the wound on the chest and its 7cm depth.
"When you’re asked in relation to the charge of murder, 'How say you? Is Jenny Niguidula guilty or not guilty of murder?' In my submission to you the appropriate answer to that question is guilty," Mr Taylor told the jury.
Mr Olivares, Mr Apostol's wife Geraldine and his sister Coy watched the hearing via video link.
Niguidula's lawyers are running a partial defence of substantial impairment, requiring them to show she had a mental health condition so severe she could not control her actions or understand what she was doing.
While psychological evidence showed a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, questions remain about whether this condition meant she could not differentiate right from wrong.
Defence barrister Andrew Boe said Niguidula admitted her lover died from a stab wound to the chest and that she did something to cause his passing.
However, he said prosecutors could not prove she had murderous intent because no evidence had been given about what occurred when Mr Apostol was stabbed.
There was no way to tell what the knife was doing or whether Mr Apostol moved towards the blade, he told jurors.
Mr Boe will continue his submissions on Wednesday.
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