A father who beat and stabbed his partner to death in front of their two daughters has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Steven Dean, 38, brutally attacked Emmerich Lasakar, 35, and left her to die on the floor of their home in Kewdale, nine kilometres south-east of central Perth.
Then, in the grip of a drug-induced psychosis, he took off in his Ford Ranger Raptor, driving through several suburbs at speeds of up to 155 km/h.
Dean sped through red lights, stop signs and onto a railroad track, where he was nearly hit by a passenger train. alphabet reported.
On Friday, the Western Australian Supreme Court sentenced him to life in prison for murder, with a minimum of 20 years in prison before parole.
Judge Bruno Fiannaca said the evil father had an argument with Ms Lasakar before punching her, stabbing her 13 times and cutting her.
It was “senseless, frenzied and brutal violence… she was left to die,” the judge said, adding that Dean’s actions “wreaked havoc and destroyed lives.”
The couple’s daughters were home at the time and the eldest, then 14, tried to protect her mother.
Steven Dean (right) brutally attacked Emmerich Lasakar (left) and left her to die on the floor of their home in Kewdale, nine kilometres south-east of central Perth.
Judge Fiannaca said Ms Lasakar “had a right to feel safe in her home with the father of her children”, and spoke of the large difference in height and weight between Dean and his partner, who “had no real chance of defending himself”.
While driving through the suburbs after murdering Ms Lasakar, Dean stopped at a gas station, where he attempted to steal cigarettes, threatened the clerk and tried to stab them through the protective screen.
Later, after crashing his truck, Dean went to a nearby house where he called for help and washed his face.
He then grabbed a kitchen knife and went to the backyard, where he attempted to stab himself in the neck.
When police arrived, they had to taser Dean to arrest him and take him to Royal Perth Hospital for fractures and dislocations from the crash.
The court heard Dean was suffering from methamphetamine-induced psychosis when he killed his partner, which caused him to develop “bizarre and repulsive beliefs” about her, including that she had been unfaithful. WA today reported.
He had been using cocaine for three years after a traumatic workplace incident in which a colleague died.
After mistakenly taking methamphetamine, he developed a habit that led to mental health problems in the months leading up to the murder, but he refused to seek help.
Dean recorded a video while driving at high speed after the attack, which included “a psychotic speech” about Ms Lasakar, whom he had told days earlier to quit her laundry job.
Witnesses described Dean as controlling and said Ms Lasakar was a devoted mother, but the court heard that on the day of the assault, he appeared calm and rational and his family visited him at work and went on picnics.
“Your offending is one of the most serious examples of domestic violence,” Judge Fiannaca said.
“I do not accept that his psychotic state reduces his culpability… Domestic violence committed by men against women… to control their lives is abhorrent.”
The court heard that Emmerich Lasakar (pictured) was a devoted mother to her daughters.
Dean, who was a business owner and had no criminal record, pleaded guilty to murder, attempted armed robbery, aggravated home burglary and reckless driving.
Ms Lasakar’s sister Diana, who has fostered the children, said it had been a terrible time.
“Nothing can bring our sister back,” he said.
“(I) am just trying to survive, wake up and continue doing the right thing, and teach these two children that violence is not good.”