Trigger warning: This post contains details of domestic violence and may be distressing for some readers.
A man who murdered his former partner while she was holding their one-week-old baby girl has pleaded guilty to murder.
Marcus Rappel, the former partner of Tara Costigan, pleaded guilty to her brutal murder along with breaching a protection order and assaulting another person.
The Canberra man was arrested under restraint at Costigan’s Calwell home in Canberra in February of last year. According to court documents, the mother-of-three was holding the couple’s one-week-old baby girl, Ayla, at the time of her attack.
A two-day hearing will be held later this year, where it is expected Rappel will dispute some of the case’s facts.
Just days before her murder, Tara posted a photo of her tiny daughter to Facebook, captioning it “A precious little Angel”.
At the time of her death, her two sons were aged nine and 11. She was just 28.
Police found her body with severe head injures and an axe beside her on the laundry floor at the rear of the Duggan Street villa where she lived.
The Canberra Times reported that Tara had sought court protection from her ex-partner a day before she was violently killed. The interim domestic violence order was granted by the magistrate, but it is unclear whether Rappel was served with the order by police.
Top Comments
I doubt whether he was or wasn't served with the order by police would have made any difference to his actions.