Murder or Insanity at Rose Bay

[DADOCTOR]

July 15, 2008 - 3:40PM



The family of a man, allegedly stabbed to death by his wife, sobbed in court as they heard his last panicked words during a triple-0 phone call.

A recording of the phone call was played during the trial of Danielle Stewart, 32, who is accused of stabbing Chaim Kimel, 55, twice in the torso during an argument in their Rose Bay apartment in August 2006.
During the phone call a female voice can be heard screaming hysterically in the background.


Mr Kimel is heard breathing heavily as he tells the operator: "I've just been stabbed... really badly."


Operator: Is the attacker still nearby?


Mr Kimel: Yes, it's my wife.


Operator: Is there any serious bleeding?


Mr Kimel: Yes, it's serious, it's to the left, to the left of stomach.
Earlier, a witness in the apartment said the argument between the two began after Stewart refused to turn down music she had been listening to on the home computer.


The witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he heard screaming from the lounge room and then Mr Kimel say: "Are you crazy? What are you doing?"


He then heard Mr Kimel scream three times "in pain", the court heard.
He then rushed to Mr Kimel to find him clutching at his side and with blood all over his hands.


Stewart was holding an antique decorative knife, which had been displayed on the coffee table.


"You f---ing barred me from the computer," she screamed at Mr Kimel, the court heard.


The witness said that, when Stewart had come home earlier that evening, she appeared drunk and her make-up and clothes were dishevelled.
Their neighbour Maria Lister told the court this morning she had just got out of the shower when she heard "terrible screaming, the worst screaming I have ever heard", coming from the woman.

"She sounded extremely distraught," Ms Lister said.
Another witness, George Hoddle, who had been staying at his girlfriend's apartment, was woken by the argument.


"I remember hearing [the woman] say repeatedly and quite loudly, "Get the f--- out, get the f--- out", Mr Hoddle told the court.
He said shortly after that he heard a man screaming.


Earlier the jury was shown footage from the crime scene, which showed blood spatters over parts of the apartment and common areas of the building.


Stewart turned her head away throughout most of the video.
The trial continues.

[ally]

July 16, 2008

THE teenage son of a man whose wife allegedly stabbed him to death witnessed the last harrowing moments of his father's life, a court has heard.

The 18-year-old, who was 16 at the time, sobbed as his father's last words, made during a phone call to triple-0, were played in court yesterday.

His stepmother, Danielle Stewart, 32, is on trial for the murder of Chaim Kimel, 55, who was stabbed twice during the argument in the couple's eastern suburbs home in August 2006. Stewart argues self-defence.

The son, who has given permission to identify his relationship with the victim but not to be named, told the Supreme Court yesterday he had been in his bedroom when he heard screaming, banging against doors and walls and the sound of punching that he believed to be Stewart hitting his father.

The youth said he had witnessed "an argument brewing" after a "drunk" Stewart refused to turn down music she had been listening to on a computer.

The court heard he went to his room but heard a commotion outside the door and his father's say in a tense voice: "There's no need to get violent."

He then heard what he thought to be his father's body fall against the door and a "shrill yell" from Stewart.

"Within a minute I heard my father scream, 'Are you crazy? What are you doing? Are you crazy?'," the youth told the court, adding that his father screamed three times in a way he had never heard before.

The youth found his father in the hall of the apartment building, clutching at his side and with blood covering his hands and shirt. Stewart was holding the knife in her right hand and a sheath in her left and she screamed at her husband, "You f---ing barred me from the computer."

When the teen rushed into his room to call an ambulance he was confronted by Stewart, who still had the knife in her hand. She told him to "get the f--- out of the house", to which he replied, "You f---ing stabbed my father", the court heard.

He rushed back to his father and was later followed by a "screaming, ranting and raving" Stewart, who said: "I stabbed him, I stabbed him".

She then dumped a computer screen in the hallway and threw the knife and sheath down the stairs, the court heard.

In the triple-0 call, played in court, a female voice is heard screaming as Mr Kimel and his son speak to the operator. Mr Kimel is heard telling the operator: "I can't breathe … I've just been stabbed … really badly."

Operator: Is the attacker still nearby? - Yes, it's my wife.

Mr Kimel was taken to hospital but died early the next morning on the operating table.

The teenager told the court that Stewart and his father had argued many times. Once he saw Stewart "slash" or "lash out" at Mr Kimel, cutting him with a coat hanger after she threatened to leave him.

The court heard the couple, married in 2004, had lived apart for most of 2005 and only moved back in together after Stewart agreed to get psychiatric help.The trial continues

[ally]

July 21, 2008 - 11:51AM

A woman accused of the stabbing murder of her husband had a "love hate" relationship with him, a court has heard.

Danielle Stewart, 32, is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court for allegedly stabbing her husband Chaim Kimel, 55, twice in the torso with a decorative knife during a domestic dispute in August 2006.

Stewart's grandmother, Elaine Kraker, told the court the couple had screaming arguments but both had told her they loved each other.

"That's one thing I can't understand," she said. "They both seemed to be so fond of each other ... the love-hate sort of thing."

Mrs Kraker said Mr Kimel "had a lot of good" in him. However, he could be domineering, opinionated and liked to control the relationship with Stewart, she said.

Mrs Kraker said Stewart had told her at one point that Mr Kimel had held a pillow to her face. She had advised her granddaughter to leave the relationship, but Stewart had told her she was "not strong enough to get away from him", the court heard.

Stewart cried throughout most of Mrs Kraker's evidence, but had earlier smiled and waved at her grandmother as she took the stand.

Mrs Kraker told the court Stewart had never fully recovered from the death of her mother when she was 11, and her father's new relationship six months later.

"She couldn't forget it and move forward. To me, that was always a problem with her father and herself."

The court heard that Stewart had tried to kill herself several times, including incidents in November 2007 and January 2008, in which she had taken a drug overdose.

[ally]

July 22, 2008



A SYDNEY woman accused of the stabbing murder of her husband was prone to "aggressive outbursts" in which she damaged their home and physically assaulted him, a court has been told.

Danielle Stewart, 32, is on trial for the murder of her husband, Chaim Kimel, 55, who was stabbed twice in the torso with a knife during an argument in the couple's Rose Bay apartment in August 2006. Stewart alleges she was acting in self-defence and that her husband of almost two years had been physically violent towards her.

However, Mr Kimel's daughter, Amber Rubenstein, told a Supreme Court jury her father was a "gentle giant" who had been abused by Stewart.

Mr Kimel had told his daughter that Stewart had bitten him on the thumb and arm and several times had smashed his glasses, the court heard.

"It became a running joke in the family that he had to get his glasses replaced regularly," Mrs Rubenstein said. "When she became aggressive she would grab them and step on them, mangle them, I don't know."

Mr Kimel, an entrepreneur, met Stewart at a nightclub in 2000 and he quickly fell in love with her, Mrs Rubenstein told the court: "I saw her in happy moods. She was lovely, actually. I really liked her until I had seen for myself … her aggressive outbursts."

The court heard that after arguments, Stewart would sometimes delete Mr Kimel's business emails and important computer files. It was also alleged she once kicked at the front door and smashed a glass panel and window at a previous home in Bellevue Hill when she was refused entry after an argument during a holiday in Queensland.

Mrs Rubenstein said that during another argument Stewart allegedly used a knife to "slash" at a timber door.

However, she denied allegations by defence counsel Belinda Rigg that she had tailored her evidence to paint her father in a positive light and Stewart in a negative light.

Earlier Stewart's grandmother, Elaine Kraker, said her granddaughter had told her Mr Kimel was domineering, controlling in the relationship, and had once held a pillow to her face.

When she advised Stewart to leave the relationship, she had said she was "not strong enough to get away from him", the court was told.

[ally]

THE grandmother of Danielle Stewart has told a court how the accused murderess once told her: "All I want is a normal family."

Stewart, 32, is on trial for the stabbing murder of her husband Chaim Kimel in their Rose Bay apartment in August 2006. She is pleading not guilty on the grounds of self-defence.

Her grandmother, Elaine Kraker, took the witness stand today, telling a Supreme Court jury of her, Stewart and Kimel's "love-hate" relationship.

A distraught Ms Kraker, from Eden on the state's South Coast, said Stewart never got over the death of her mother at a young age, and how she yearned for a normal family.

"She told me several times, 'All I want's a normal family," Ms Kraker told the court.

"I said, 'You don't know what a normal family is'. She said, 'One without any traumas'."

She said her granddaughter and Mr Kimel, who was 55 when he died, had had shouting matches but she was never aware of any physical altercation between the two.

"That's what I can't understand," she said.

"They both seemed to be so fond of each other. It's just not how we are at all, the love-hate sort of thing."

However, she said Stewart once told her Mr Kimel had placed a pillow against her face but did not elaborate.

On the death of Stewart's mother when she was 11, Ms Kraker said: "She couldn't forget it. That was always a problem with her father and herself. She wanted a father but he wasn't what she wanted and she couldn't forget."

She said Mr Kimel was a kind, loving son-in-law but also domineering to Stewart and herself.

"I understood what she was talking about. Things had to be done his way," she said.

"I would say, 'Leave'. She would say, 'But I love him'."

A year before Mr Kimel's death, Ms Kraker said Stewart - then separated from her husband - had taken a trip to Melbourne to visit an ex-lover.

While travelling south, she said she received a message from her granddaughter saying she was "deeply unsure" of her visit.

"She didn't know what to do, whether to make that break," Ms Kraker said.

"It was the indecision she was depressed about. She said, 'I've had black holes before'."

[ally]

July 24, 2008 - 4:21PM


A woman on trail for the stabbing murder of her husband had fallen pregnant to another man in the months before his death, a court has heard.

Danielle Stewart, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband Chaim Kimel, 55, after a domestic dispute in their Rose Bay apartment in August 2006.

Stewart is claiming it was in self-defence.

Her psychiatrist, Rosalind Foy, told the NSW Supreme Court that Stewart was suffering from borderline personality disorder, most likely triggered by the death of her mother at a young age, upheaval in her home life, sexual abuse by three people and two pregnancy terminations.

Dr Foy said Stewart told her she had a second termination in March 2006 at the request of her husband after she fell pregnant to a man named Yuri whom she had met in Melbourne.

"Yuri had wanted to keep it and have her live with him in Melbourne," Dr Foy said while reading from her clinical notes.

"Chaim said, 'Have the termination if you want to stay with me.' "

The court heard that Stewart had had another termination the previous year. The baby had been Mr Kimel's but the couple were unsure of the future of their relationship.

Dr Foy told the court that in the four months she treated Stewart she had made no mention of any physical abuse by Mr Kimel towards her, but she had spoken of his emotional abuse.

Dr Foy said Stewart had a "high level of anxiety" about losing Mr Kimel, the relationship and her home.

She said Stewart had told her she had been sexually abused on separate occasions by an elderly male neighbour, a female neighbour and the older brother of a friend.

[DADOCTOR]

Here are some Photos of the accused and the deceased

[ally]

July 25, 2008

A WOMAN on trial for killing her husband with an antique decorative knife had become pregnant with another man's child in the months before the death, a court has heard.

Danielle Stewart, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband, Chaim Kimel, 55, after a domestic dispute in their Rose Bay apartment in August 2006. Stewart is claiming she acted in self-defence.

Her psychiatrist, Rosalind Foy, told the Supreme Court that Stewart, who had borderline personality disorder, had been told by Mr Kimel to terminate the pregnancy after she conceived a child with a Melbourne man, Yuri Moel.

"Yuri had wanted to keep it and have her live with him in Melbourne," Dr Foy said, reading from her clinical notes. "Her husband told her that she must terminate the pregnancy if she wanted to come back to the family home."

Dr Foy said Stewart's disorder was most likely triggered by childhood traumas, including the death of her mother when Stewart was 11 and alleged sexual abuse by three people. She had undergone the termination in March 2006, and another in 2005.

Stewart had "highly conflicting feelings" about her relationship with Mr Kimel, from whom she had been estranged for much of 2005, the psychiatrist said. The couple had terminated a pregnancy that year as they were unsure of their relationship and neither was ready for children.

Dr Foy said in four months of treatment Stewart had not mentioned physical abuse by Mr Kimel, but had spoken of being emotionally abused by him. Dr Foy said Stewart had a "high level of anxiety" about losing Mr Kimel, the relationship and her home. She also had "difficulty with his personality", the court heard.

Stewart had told her she had been sexually abused on separate occasions by an elderly male neighbour, a female neighbour and the older brother of a friend.

Stewart's grandmother, Elaine Kraker, previously told the court her granddaughter been torn between moving in with Mr Moel in Melbourne or returning to Mr Kimel. "She didn't know what to do, whether to make that break," she said. "I wanted her to go to Melbourne but then Chaim was ringing her wanting her to go back."

[ally]

July 29, 2008



THE woman who allegedly killed her husband with an antique knife said he forced her to have sex with him when they first met, a court has heard.

Danielle Stewart, 32, has pleaded not guilty to stabbing Chaim Kimel, 55, during an argument in their Rose Bay apartment in August 2006.

She is defending the charge on the grounds that she was mentally ill and acted in self-defence.

Stewart, who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, told a forensic psychiatrist, Stephen Allnutt, that in the early phase of the relationship she helped out at Mr Kimel's furniture shop and she had wanted to leave him because he wanted to sleep with her.

"She told me there was strings attached in that relationship and that she had to sleep with him in order to be paid for her employment," Dr Allnutt told the Supreme Court jury.

During an interview with Dr Allnutt, Stewart said her husband had been physically violent towards her several times, including one incident in which he tried to smother her with a pillow to stop her screaming and then slammed her head against a door.

Mr Kimel would take her phone, purse and car keys to prevent her leaving the house and he would expect her to stay at home with his son while he went out drinking, Stewart had told Dr Allnutt.

The court heard that before the stabbing, Stewart had developed a cocaine habit and sometimes took two grams a day. She and Mr Kimel would also drink two bottles of wine a day.

Stewart told Dr Allnutt she could remember part of the incident in which Mr Kimel was stabbed. She had consumed several glasses of alcohol and the drug Seroquel and had the feeling of "going underwater", the court heard.

Stewart could not recall the argument or the physical fight between the two, but she she did recall a feeling of coming out of her body and pushing a computer off a desk. "The next thing she heard was her husband saying, 'You stabbed me'," Dr Allnutt said.

The court heard a recorded conversation between Stewart and her father, Graham, in which she tells him "there's no way I meant to kill Chaim".

"Dad, it wasn't a f---ing choice. You think I would choose to do that? You think that was a f---ing mentally rational choice?

"Dad … I'm f---ing mentally ill, I don't remember doing anything OK? … You don't do things like that if you're rational."

Dr Allnutt said the jury should not consider a mental illness defence in the case because Stewart would have been aware of what she was doing and would have understood it was wrong, despite her borderline personality disorder, anxiety and depression.

He told the court her actions had been due to "poor judgment as a result of intoxication

[ally]

August 4, 2008

A Sydney woman allegedly stabbed her husband to death with an antique knife during a fight about their catering business, a court has heard.

Danielle Stewart, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Chaim Kimel, 55, in their Rose Bay apartment on August 23, 2006.

She is defending the charge on the grounds of self defence, after he allegedly sexually and physically abused her throughout the relationship.

Stewart is also defending the charge on the grounds of mental illness after being diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder.

But during his closing address to the Supreme Court jury, prosecutor John Pickering said there was no element of self-defence in Stewart's actions that night.

He said her actions had been "deliberate and intentional".

Mr Pickering said Stewart had been upset that Mr Kimel had changed a password on the website for their catering business.

After she had stabbed him and as Mr Kimel was trying to call triple-0, Stewart dropped the computer monitor outside the front door, Mr Pickering said.

She then threw a bunch of receipts and business records all over the hallway.

"This fight was about business, the business between the two," Mr Pickering told the jury.

"It had nothing to do with self-defence. It had nothing to do with the past. It had everything to do with business."

The jury heard Stewart had complained to police that Mr Kimel barred her from the computer and complained about how he was running the business.

"Where does she say, 'I acted in self-defence. He came at me with a knife and I stabbed him to protect myself.' Nowhere.

"This is an argument about the business you might think, about the computer and Danielle's reaction to that," he said.

Mr Pickering said that, despite her intoxication that night, Stewart had "mental functioning" as she was able to drive home from a friend's house, operate a computer and hold a conversation with her grandmother.

His closing argument continues