A man has just been sentenced in the WA Supreme Court to life in prison for the violent murder of his partner after a birthday meth binge turned fatal.
Julian Pau, 43, sat with his head in his hands this morning as state prosecutor Brett Tooker read out details of the events leading up to the moment he stabbed Vitorina Bruce, 40, multiple times in the chest, stomach, arm and back in a Perth hotel in November 2022.
Vitorina Bruce, 40, was stabbed to death at the Quality Hotel Ambassador Perth.
Pau, who admitted he was responsible for the woman’s death, was seen by guests at the hotel plunging a chef’s knife into the stomach of Bruce after he chased her out of a hotel room.
The court was told he met the Fijian mother of five while working at a hotel in Newman and the pair planned a trip to Perth for his 42nd birthday.
On the day Bruce died, Pau was found to have been consuming methamphetamine that caused a psychotic episode.
He had a lengthy criminal history, the court was told, that included family violence toward two former partners in Queensland.