A Sydney woman whose gambling husband suspected her of having an affair with her personal fitness trainer deliberately stabbed her spouse to death, a jury has been told.
Qian Liu’s husband had suggested she provided the trainer with abalone soup from her Chinese restaurant while he had not been given it, prosecutor Brad Hughes SC said on Tuesday.
He was opening the crown case at the NSW Supreme Court trial of Liu, 35, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Han Lim Chin.
The 39-year-old did not regain consciousness after being stabbed once at their Riverwood granny flat late on January 3, 2016.
Sydney woman, Qian Liu (above), whose gambling husband suspected her of having an affair with her personal fitness trainer deliberately stabbed her spouse to death, a jury has been told
Qian Liu’s husband had suggested she provided the trainer with abalone soup from her Chinese restaurant, prosecutor Brad Hughes SC said on Tuesday
Liu’s lawyer, Phillip Boulten SC, told the jury the stabbing was accidental and she was not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
She had not realised the sheath had come off the knife, nor did she initially realise that she had stabbed him or caused the wound, he said.
Mr Hughes said tensions had surfaced in the marriage after Mr Chin suffered substantial gambling losses and began to suspect his wife was involved with her trainer Xi Long.
Mr Chin had claimed she had driven the trainer to his home and gave him abalone soup.
Liu, 35, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband, Han Lim Chin
The 39-year-old did not regain consciousness after being stabbed once at their Riverwood granny flat late on January 3, 2016
She strongly denied any inappropriate behaviour and the couple decided to put aside their problems and start afresh in 2016.
But on January 2, Mr Chin delivered a dish to diners at the wrong table at his wife’s restaurant.
‘Qian Liu remonstrated with him,’ the prosecutor said.
‘He took offence and it appears this was somewhat of a catalyst for marital problems coming to the fore again.’
Liu’s mother was present when they argued in the granny flat on the night of January 3, but left before Mr Chin was stabbed once in the chest.
Liu was spotted leaving King Street Supreme Courts in Sydney with her father on Wednesday
Liu’s lawyer, Phillip Boulten SC, told the jury the stabbing was accidental and she was not guilty of murder or manslaughter
When police arrived, Liu allegedly said: ‘I stabbed him, we argued and I was mad’.
Mr Boulten told the jury Mr Chin was the person who armed himself with the knife ‘and brought it into the equation’.
‘There is no doubt that in the period leading up to this incident, the accused’s husband had become very, very jealous – unreasonably so, the defence case will be…
‘He had this belief that was incapable of being shaken that she was carrying on with her fitness instructor.
‘They were not having an affair.’
She had not realised the sheath had come off the knife, nor did she initially realise that she had stabbed him or caused the wound, Liu’s lawyer said
The prosecuter said tensions had surfaced in the marriage after Mr Chin suffered substantial gambling losses and began to suspect his wife was involved with her trainer Xi Long
When the couple argued on January 3, Liu noticed her husband put the sheathed knife into the bumbag he was wearing and she grabbed it and moved it away from him, Mr Boulten said.
But she accidentally wounded him when she turned around towards him.
The trial is continuing before Justice Clifton Hoeben.
Mr Chin had claimed she had driven the trainer to his home and gave him abalone soup
When police arrived, Liu allegedly said: ‘I stabbed him, we argued and I was mad’