Perth woman on trial for murdering boyfriend claimed he ‘stabbed himself’
A woman accused of murdering her boyfriend by stabbing him in the chest allegedly claimed the 31-year-old rigger stabbed himself, a court has heard.
Lauren Vivian Brown, 28, has gone on trial in the Supreme Court of WA over allegations that she fatally stabbed James Sheahy in their apartment in Joondalup in September 2023.
Lauren Vivian Brown, pictured, faced court following an alleged stabbing in Joondalup on Thursday night.Credit: Nine News Perth
State prosecutor Michael Cvetkoski told the court witnesses would give evidence during the course of the trial that she was verbally and physically abusive towards Sheehy, whom she had only met five months before his death.
The couple had only weeks earlier moved into a unit in Joondalup when an argument allegedly ensued between the pair. Cvetkoski said Sheehy was on the phone to a friend moments before he was injured. The friend claims to have heard Brown in the background “shouting really loudly” during their conversation.
The friend allegedly claimed he could hear Brown calling Sheehy expletives.
Cvetkoski said Brown resented Sheehy because he worked long hours and claimed that she was insecure and jealous.
The prosecutor also told the jury that Brown had been witnessed prior to the incident being physically and verbally abusive toward Sheehy on separate occasions, who was allegedly seen at one point with a black eye.
He also claimed the couple’s former housemates once saw him retreat to their bedroom to avoid an escalating argument, closing the door behind him, which allegedly caused Brown to react violently by kicking a hole through the door through which she crawled to reach her partner.
He told the jury that during that phone call minutes before he died, Brown could be heard becoming angry, “and that anger turned to rage” as she questioned Sheehy about who he was on the phone with.
