ID :
208593
Wed, 09/21/2011 - 14:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/208593
The shortlink copeid
Vic accused suggested hiring hitman: lover
SYDNEY (AAP)-21.09.2011 -A Melbourne woman accused of plotting with her lover to kill her millionaire husband claimed she would have killed him herself if she had a gun, a jury has heard.
Vicky Soteriou and her lover, Ari Dimitrakis, regularly discussed ways to have her husband Chris killed, Dimitrakis told a Victorian Supreme Court jury on Wednesday.
Soteriou's suggestions included hiring a hitman, he said.
Dimitrakis said his lover enjoyed it when he told her he'd look into it.
He alleged Soteriou told him: "It might be a lot easier if we just kill him."
"She actually claimed once that if she had a gun, she would probably do it herself," Dimitrakis told the jury.
On January 2, 2010, Dimitrakis alleges he was handed a knife wrapped in a towel by Soteriou during a meeting at a suburban park where they discussed killing her husband.
Soteriou allegedly then said: "I love you and I will see you tonight."
That night, Chris Soteriou suffered life-threatening injuries when he was stabbed and had his throat cut as he walked along a Fitzroy street with his wife.
Dimitrakis pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury to Mr Soteriou and was jailed, but he told the jury he cannot remember the incident.
He said he thinks he went home after receiving the knife and his next memory is of picking up his wife from a local pokies venue just after midnight.
Under cross-examination, Soteriou's barrister Philip Dunn, QC, suggested Dimitrakis had lied to get a sentencing discount.
"Can I suggest to you sir, that you are a perjurer and a deliberate one and what you've done is when you found out that Vicky Soteriou was in a psychiatric ward, you thought this would be good for you because you could blame her and get a reduced sentence," he said.
Dimitrakis rejected the suggestion.
Soteriou spent time in a psychiatric institution in January 2010, the jury was told.
Dimitrakis explained he couldn't remember the stabbing because of prescription medication.
Mr Dunn asked Dimitrakis whether he sent 39 texts and made four telephone calls to Soteriou on January 2, 2010, but he said he didn't remember them all.
Dimitrakis also said he does not remember going to Soteriou's home a number of times on the day of the stabbing.
Earlier the jury heard Soteriou told her lover that her husband wasn't the man she wanted to die with.
He said their affair began in 2008 or 2009 and their sexual contact increased after he had "Vicky" tattooed on his chest.
Soteriou has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and intentionally causing serious injury.
The trial before Justice Elizabeth Curtain continues on Thursday.
Vicky Soteriou and her lover, Ari Dimitrakis, regularly discussed ways to have her husband Chris killed, Dimitrakis told a Victorian Supreme Court jury on Wednesday.
Soteriou's suggestions included hiring a hitman, he said.
Dimitrakis said his lover enjoyed it when he told her he'd look into it.
He alleged Soteriou told him: "It might be a lot easier if we just kill him."
"She actually claimed once that if she had a gun, she would probably do it herself," Dimitrakis told the jury.
On January 2, 2010, Dimitrakis alleges he was handed a knife wrapped in a towel by Soteriou during a meeting at a suburban park where they discussed killing her husband.
Soteriou allegedly then said: "I love you and I will see you tonight."
That night, Chris Soteriou suffered life-threatening injuries when he was stabbed and had his throat cut as he walked along a Fitzroy street with his wife.
Dimitrakis pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury to Mr Soteriou and was jailed, but he told the jury he cannot remember the incident.
He said he thinks he went home after receiving the knife and his next memory is of picking up his wife from a local pokies venue just after midnight.
Under cross-examination, Soteriou's barrister Philip Dunn, QC, suggested Dimitrakis had lied to get a sentencing discount.
"Can I suggest to you sir, that you are a perjurer and a deliberate one and what you've done is when you found out that Vicky Soteriou was in a psychiatric ward, you thought this would be good for you because you could blame her and get a reduced sentence," he said.
Dimitrakis rejected the suggestion.
Soteriou spent time in a psychiatric institution in January 2010, the jury was told.
Dimitrakis explained he couldn't remember the stabbing because of prescription medication.
Mr Dunn asked Dimitrakis whether he sent 39 texts and made four telephone calls to Soteriou on January 2, 2010, but he said he didn't remember them all.
Dimitrakis also said he does not remember going to Soteriou's home a number of times on the day of the stabbing.
Earlier the jury heard Soteriou told her lover that her husband wasn't the man she wanted to die with.
He said their affair began in 2008 or 2009 and their sexual contact increased after he had "Vicky" tattooed on his chest.
Soteriou has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and intentionally causing serious injury.
The trial before Justice Elizabeth Curtain continues on Thursday.
