The horrific moment a 10-year-old girl desperately tried to save her mother when her ex-partner stabbed her to death has been played out in court.
Sven Lindemann, a Melbourne-based fitness fanatic raised in Germany, brutally stabbed 39-year-old Monique Lezsak to death as her distraught son fought to save her.
The hulking brute had been blind with rage after Monique, a talented bodybuilder in her own right, dared to try to break up with him.
Mrs Lezsak was stabbed to death by Sven Lindemann in May 2023
Melbourne bodybuilder Sven Lindemann posted on Instagram about being an “alpha male” and wrote days before Ms Lezsak’s stabbing death: “don’t forget you’re going to die… and you don’t know when.”
Lindemann covered his head with a jacket as he arrived at the Victorian Supreme Court in a police van.
Family and friends of Monique Lezsak leave the Supreme Court of Victoria
Lindemann, 51, appeared before the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday for a pre-sentence hearing after pleading guilty to murdering Ms Lezsak and wounding the girl, known as Lilly for legal reasons.
The cowardly murderer quickly attracted the ire of Judge Elizabeth Hollingworth when a summary of his evil deeds was read to the court.
Judge Hollingworth was forced to stop the proceedings to scold Lindemann, who she said was trying to disrupt the hearing by pretending to show remorse.
Will the accused join? Come on. Stop crying like a crocodile,’ she told him. “You haven’t shown any real remorse.”
‘Don’t sob loudly at the back of the court to distract us, please. I’m not convinced you’re even remotely sorry.
“I’ve seen the evidence, stop interrupting us, please.”
Judge Hollingworth told the court Lindemann was wasting time trying to claim he now regretted his actions.
“It was getting louder and louder and that is not acceptable,” he added. “He’s not remotely persuasive and it’s a little late to pretend he’s sorry.”
The court heard of Lindemann’s intense jealousy when he learned that Lezsak, his partner of four years, had entered into a relationship with another Queensland fitness fanatic.
The hard-working mother of twins had decided to break up with Lindemann after growing tired of his bad behavior, especially directed at her children, who had special needs.
Monique Lezsak (pictured) died after being stabbed in her own home
On May 21 of last year, Lezsak had told her that their relationship was over. The court heard she immediately expressed concern about what she might do.
The separated couple lived at Mrs. Lezsak’s house his parents’ house in Endeavor Hills, in Melbourne‘s southeast, at that time.
Lindemann had already begun threatening his interstate love interest and told friends that Mrs Lezsak had “ruined his life”.
On May 30, while still living under the same roof, Lindemann unleashed his murderous attack.
At 7.32am, a neighbour’s CCTV cameras recorded the sound of Mrs Lezsak’s terrifying screams.
Young Lilly was in the living room with her brother, talking to her grandmother, when they heard the screams.
When the young woman ran into the master bedroom, Lindemann had stabbed her mother with such force that the knife broke.
“Lilly saw the offender punch and strangle the deceased and drag her out of the bathroom,” Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill said.
“Lilly tried to intervene when her mother screamed and the offender dragged Mrs Lezsak into the kitchen.”
Lezsak’s former partner, Sven Lindemann, massacred her in front of her two children.
The children’s grandmother suffers from Parkinson’s disease and stood no chance against the brute.
“Leave my mother alone,” Lilly shouted as Lindemann reached for another knife.
“You have ruined my life,” Lindemann shouted as he stabbed Mrs. Lezsak on the kitchen floor.
The court heard Lilly kicked Lindemann and attempted to block his blows with the knife, suffering multiple cuts in the process.
“She managed to kick him and get the knife away from him,” Mrs Churchill said.
“However, the offender found another knife and stabbed the deceased in the chest, breaking the knife in the process.”
The brave boy managed to disarm him once again after he grabbed another knife before dragging his mother into the dining room to continue his assault.
“He continued to stab her while Lilly stood between the attacker and her mother and tried to stop the attack,” Churchill said.
“Lilly was able to stop the attack twice by taking possession of the knives, but the offender obtained more knives to continue his attack.”
By the time he finally gave up the frenzy, Lindemann had used six knives to slaughter his victim.
At 7:35 a.m., a few minutes after the attack began, Lindemann grabbed a knife and attempted suicide.
At the same time, Lilly used voice control to call 911, the American number for emergency services.
“Stay with me mom, stay with me,” she was heard saying as emergency services answered the call.
The professional bodybuilder also worked as a caregiver for the disabled, but she really dreamed of being a police officer, her ex-partner said.
Mrs Lezsak and her then boyfriend Sven Lindemann were professional bodybuilders.
The young mother of twins had wanted to be a police officer, her ex-partner said
The court heard Lilly told the operator that her mother was dead and that a killer remained inside the house.
He told the operator that Lindemann had murdered his mother because “she was breaking up with him.”
Lilly then told a police officer who joined the call that she had tried to perform CPR on her mother, but it had not worked.
“There was blood everywhere,” he told the officer, including everywhere.
“My heart is shattered,” he told the officer. “My mom, she loved her very much.”
In a shocking final act, the court heard Lindemann transferred $71,000 from his bank account as he lay bleeding next to Mrs Lezsak’s body in an attempt to hide any money from going to his dead ex-partner’s children.
When the police arrived, Lindemann begged them to allow him to die.
“She ruined my life,” he told them. They told the paramedics who took him to the hospital the same thing.
In jail awaiting justice, Lindemann was recorded on prison phones complaining about his life.
‘She shouldn’t have started something with another man. That’s why she poured gasoline on the fire,” she said.
Detectives outside Ms Lezsak’s parents’ residence in Endeavor Hills in May last year.
Police at the house where Lindemann committed his horrendous crime
Sven’s Instagram post four days ago about life, death and happiness included the words “don’t forget you’re going to die.”
Prison staff also heard Lindemann tell a friend to make sure no one could access his money.
‘My account book and everything. Who knows? Maybe they can use my card and go shopping or whatever,” she said.
Lindemann was captured on the calls making full confessions to his crime.
“At the end of the day, I have no excuse for what I’ve done,” he said.
‘I only know that someone did a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot to me and tore my heart out of my body. I just couldn’t stand it.
“A man who was previously free, who had a job, a career, has had everything taken away from him, but that woman ruined everything for me.” She ruined everything for me.
‘It was a blackout. She ripped my heart out of my chest and took everything from me.’
Just days before the murder, he gave chilling insight into his twisted plans.
in a In an Instagram post, he talked about death, ’10 bitter truths’ and ‘mortality, happiness and material wealth.’
The day before the alleged stabbing murder, Sven posted a bizarre video from an apartment door’s fisheye security camera, and his previous posts include statements about death, fate, and being an “alpha male.”
Lindemann will be sentenced at a date to be determined.