Auckland: A man who stabbed his partner to death told the dead woman's niece "you are too late, she is no more", the Auckland High Court has heard
Taxi driver Jiwan Ram,63, is on trial accused of murdering Bimla Wati in November last year.
Wati, 47, was found dead at her Mt Wellington home after suffering six deep stab wounds.
Ram admits killing Wati but is arguing it was manslaughter rather than murder.
The Crown's first witness, Wati's niece Rangeeta Gounder, told the court that when she arrived home to the scene, she encountered Ram at the front door.
He was covered in blood, she said.
"He said 'You are too late, she is no more'... the way he said it, he was proud of what he did, but his facial expression was different - he was sad," she told the court.
Crown prosecutor Dale Dufty said in opening that the pair had been together since 2013.
Last year the pair was renting a room from Wati's niece who also lived at the house, along with two other relatives.
On November 3 "a normal night" erupted into violence after the two argued over when to visit a family member, Dufty said.
The two relatives heard the argument erupt between Wati and Ram in the couple's bedroom, which later moved into the lounge. About 9pm the argument became louder and Wati was heard screaming.
Dufty said Ram was seen by one of the relatives standing over Wati's body. When he stood up, he allegedly pulled a knife out of Wati's torso. She was stabbed six times, Dufty said, the knife piercing her lung twice, and cutting a main artery near her heart.
Ram ordered the two relatives to leave the house, which they did, and shortly after, Wati's niece arrived.
"He opened the door and said, words to the effect, 'you were too late, she is no more,'" Dufty said.
Emergency services arrived within 15 minutes by which time Ram had sliced his own wrists. Ambulance officers pronounced Wati dead at the scene.
During a police interview, Ram said he and Wati had argued over when they should visit Wati's new grandchild. She wanted to go that weekend, while he wanted to wait until they had more money, Dufty said.
Ram said in the interview that Wati had approached him with a kitchen knife saying, "kill me, kill me" Dufty said.
A scuffle with the knife ensued and Ram was nicked, causing him to bleed.
"That's when I got really wild," Ram told police.
"She kept arguing, arguing, arguing. I just stabbed her, stabbed her on the upper body."
Ram, of Fijian-Indian ethnicity, was assisted in court by an interpreter.
His lawyer, Hugh Leabourn, gave a short opening address to the jury where he said it wasn't in dispute that Ram had caused Wati's death.
"It's not a case where the defence is saying Mr Ram was not responsible for Ms Wati's death. He was, and you can take that from me now."
He said his client was guilty only of manslaughter, because he did not intend to kill her.
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