Guilty of manslaughter

Woman, 25, awaits sentence over death of partner

THE three-month relationship between Far North woman Michelle Cooktown and Galvin Furber was short, violent and deadly.

The 25-year-old Cooktown was yesterday found guilty of the Northern Territory man’s manslaughter after a five-day trial in the Cairns Supreme Court.

She was found not guilty of the 23-year-old’s murder after the court heard of serious domestic violence leading up to the moment where she took a knife from her uncle’s house, walked to a nearby park and stabbed Mr Furber four times.

The court heard an emotional victim impact statement from his cousin Ruby Hart who travelled from Alice Springs to watch the trial as the family’s representative.

“He was a happy, gentle and kind person,” her statement said. “He was loved by all his family. I can picture his smile in my mind.”

She said the family had also lost Mr Furber’s uncle in similar circumstances shortly before this incident and his death was another loss to their cultural heritage.

“It’s like we never get a chance to heal from our previous grief,” she said.

The court heard the couple had met online before meeting in person in Mt Isa where they lived in August 2018.

Three weeks later they were living together and just weeks after that they decided to head to Innisfail and Babinda, where Cooktown’s family lived, to attend family events including a funeral and her brother Isaiah’s 18th birthday.

Her family witnessed their hostile relationship, including physical and verbal arguments and accusations by Cooktown of his romantic pursuit of her mother and sister.

It came to a head on December 12, 2018 when she took a lime green knife from the kitchen, which her defence barrister Josh Trevino said was for self defence, walked with him to the park and stabbed him.

The court heard Isaiah witnessed the attack before the family rushed to the park and tried to revive Mr Furber who died under a fig tree.

Cooktown gave evidence during the trial in closed court with Justice Jim Henry reading excerpts from her testimony where she was asked why she didn’t leave him. “I loved him,” she said. “What did you think would happen if you left him?” she was asked.

“He would kill me,” she said. Justice Jim Henry will hand down Cooktown’s sentence next Tuesday.