A missing mobile phone and a large sum of cash belonging to a mother found dead in a western Sydney unit are being hunted by police, with the woman’s body found hours after she called triple-0 saying: ‘My husband’s taking all the money.’
Tatiana ‘Tania’ Dokhotaru, 34, was found dead inside her Liverpool apartment at 8pm on Saturday, almost 24 hours after her desperate call for help alleging her partner Danny Zayat, 28, was ‘bashing’ her.
Zayat has since been charged with more than a dozen domestic-violence related offences which allegedly occurred prior to her death, including choking and breaching an AVO.
He was refused bail at court on Monday. No charges have been laid relating to Ms Dokhotaru’s death and he is assisting detectives with their inquiries.
A source close to the investigation said the cash and phone had disappeared from Ms Dokhotaru’s home, and could help them piece together what happened to her.
It comes as some loved ones speculate her death may have been caused by the opioid painkiller tramadol, but these rumours were shut down by the insider.
‘If she had an overdose then why is a large sum of cash and her phone missing from her apartment?’ the source told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The police don’t have them.’
Police are looking for a missing phone and large sum of cash belonging to Tatiana Dokhotaru (pictured with her ex Danny Zayat in 2021) who was found dead in her Sydney unit on Saturday
Ms Dokhotaru sent the above footage to friends in the days before she was found dead in her Liverpool unit
NSW Police declined to comment as the investigation is ongoing.
According to a police fact sheet tendered in court, Ms Dokhotaru invited Zayat to her flat, where she lived with their young son, on Friday night.
The couple allegedly began arguing at about 11.40pm.
She made a frantic call to police, saying she was being assaulted in her apartment but did not leave her details.
‘He’s bashing me… my husband’s taking all the money from my house,’ she said in a call to triple-0.
Officers who arrived at the 297-unit complex in Norfolk Street Liverpool some three hours later left when they could not pinpoint her apartment in the enormous tower.
About 20 hours later, officers returned to the unit block after receiving a call from the woman’s neighbour at about 8pm on Saturday.
Dokhotaru and Zayat are pictured in colour-coordinated outfits at their 2019 baby shower
Ms Dokhotaru’s ex-husband (right) says he had no contact with her until earlier this year’
Ms Dokhotaru was found dead inside this apartment block on Saturday, almost a day after her desperate call to triple-0
Her death came just two days before her son’s fourth birthday on Sunday.
Zayat was arrested at the scene and charged with domestic violence-related offences, including intimidation, breaching an AVO and destroying or damaging property.
He later told the police he left the house about midnight Friday following an argument about Ms Dokhotaru taking drugs, but returned the following day when he could not contact her.
He was refused bail at court on Monday. The court was told he was now facing more than a dozen new charges, including domestic violence-related choking without consent, assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault.
No charges have been laid relating to Ms Dokhotaru’s death.
Tributes have continued to pour in for Ms Dokhotaru – a Russian national who migrated to Australia around a decade ago – as she is remembered as a ‘beautiful and hardworking’ mum.
Among those mourning the loss of the single mum is her former husband, from whom she split with several years ago.
‘I had no contact with her from 2017 to early this year,’ he told Daily Mail Australia the same day he gave a statement to police.
Tatiana Dokhotaru (right) is pictured with her mother Olga Dokhotaru (left)
Yesterday, footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia showed a tearful Ms Dokhotaru panning the camera across her face to show friends her swollen and bruised left eye.
She sent the clip of her facial injuries to loved ones last week.
The clip emerged as Ms Dokhotaru’s shattered parents, Olga Dokhotaru and Dennis Thievin, who live in Canada, demanded answers over their only daughter’s death.
They told 7News they knew someone thing was terribly wrong when they didn’t hear from their her for a few days.
‘Since when does somebody make a frantic call, close to midnight, and you more or less ignore it?’ Denis said.
Zayat is due to face court on Friday.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk