2 days Ago By Grace Crivellaro
or signup to continue reading A man who "brutally" killed his girlfriend Manthana 'Nancy' Khuntarat in a sustained attack inside their sharehouse has been jailed for 23 years. Ms Khuntarat had planned a trip overseas to see her parents, however her controlling boyfriend Natthawut Tammajanta beat down their bathroom door, murdering her with his bare hands on December 18, 2022 at their Albion Park Rail sharehouse in NSW. The judge said Khantharat "managed to hide from the attack" and "might have briefly thought she was safe", but that her final moments must have been "terrifying".
"It's deeply heartbreaking that she never got the chance to make that visit," Khantharat's sister Rudeemas Khuntaras told the Supreme Court in Wollongong on Monday. "Instead, we had to bring her body to Thailand, which has been incredibly painful for all of us." Tammajanta, 29, had been due to stand trial but pleaded guilty to domestic violence-related murder last month on the basis he had intended to cause grievous bodily harm, rather than to kill.
He was sentenced on Wednesday to 23 years and four months jail. The court heard Ms Khantarat's family struggles to come to terms with her sudden death, with her mother keeping her bedroom in Thailand exactly how it was left when she came to Australia on a student visa in 2019. "She was clearly loved by her family and friends," Justice Natalie Adams said.
Tammajanta, a chef, had no prior criminal record, but he did have a history of violence against Ms Khuntarat stemming from intense jealousy. According to tendered court documents, the couple received a termination notice from their workplace in Sydney in mid-2022 after Tammajanta became jealous when he watched Ms Khantarat serve a customer. The pair got another job at a Shellharbour restaurant in November 2022, with their new colleagues noticing Tammajanta becoming "hot-headed" and abusive towards Ms Khantarat.
CCTV showed the pair leaving the restaurant after 9pm on December 19, 2022, with Tammajanta having downed a bottle of wine within a few minutes while on shift. Two hours later, Tammajanta frantically called a colleague and screamed down the line: "Nan dead, she's not breathing, could you come to help? It's real, not a scam." Tammajanta was found by police in the loungeroom kneeling by Ms Khantharat's unresponsive body yelling: "Wake up, wake up.
" Agreed facts state Tammajanta bashed Ms Khantarat throughout the unit and beat down the bathroom door after she locked herself in there to escape him. He struck her repeatedly in the face and she died of blunt force head injuries. Blood stains were found throughout the unit as well as a trail of destruction Tammajanta left in his wake - a smashed mobile phone, a bookcase with blood dripping on it, and a television overturned and lying face down on the floor.
Tammajanta told a forensic psychologist in his youth he drank heavily and used 'yabba' - a drug made up of a mix of meth and caffeine that is popular in South East Asia. He also said he was "a jealous person" and that he hit Ms Khantarat as he "wanted to teach her to stop being a liar". Justice Adams said she wasn't satisfied Tammajanta had shown genuine remorse for his offending, which he downplayed the seriousness of when police arrived at the scene, telling them he didn't hit her and she had fallen down the stairs.
When assessing objective seriousness, the judge said the community has become increasingly concerned at the rate men are killing women known to them. A non-parole period of 16 years and four months was fixed. With time already served, Tammajanta will become eligible for release in April 2039.
The court heard on Monday he will likely be deported to Thailand when released. Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury. Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
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