Dead with a slit throat

Brisbane woman allegedly killed former husband in suburban street

A BRISBANE woman allegedly sprayed her ex-husband with bleach before stabbing him repeatedly and slitting his throat on a quiet residential street on Wednesday night.

Bonita Vivien Coue, 53, was charged with murdering Kerry Michael Rooney at his home in the Brisbane suburb of Newmarket.

She was also charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm one of those for allegedly assaulting a neighbour, and one count of going armed so as to cause fear.

Coue made a brief appearance in court without legal representation, where she said the first count, murder, was “true”, and the fourth one, going armed so as to cause fear, was “self-defence”.

In court documents tendered to Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday, it is alleged Coue told police she had killed her ex-husband because she no longer wished to pay child support.

Police will argue the alleged murder was “premeditated and brutal”.

Police will allege Coue left her Kangaroo Point home armed with two kitchen knives, a spray bottle filled with bleach, a replica firearm and a syringe filled with an unknown liquid, before catching the bus to Rooney’s Newmarket home at 7pm.

Rooney had collected fish and chips for dinner and returned home when he allegedly encountered his ex-wife in the stairwell, where she had allegedly been waiting for several minutes.

Coue told police she had been watching him for two weeks prior to the attack.

Coue allegedly sprayed Mr Rooney in the face with bleach, before she stabbed him in the back. She then allegedly cut his hands and fingers.

Police allege he attempted to flee before he fell to the ground, where she went on to slit his throat. Forensics have yet to identify which wound was the one that proved fatal.

A neighbour who heard the commotion attempted to come to Mr Rooney’s aid as he lay in the street. It is alleged one man told police he had asked the woman to stop, but she retaliated by spraying him in the face with bleach as well.

According to the court documents, the neighbour produced a baseball bat and told the woman to stop, which she did, but as she walked away she allegedly pointed a gun at him.

Police said in court documents they were aware of a history of family court and domestic violence matters relating to the pair, but there had been no offending in recent years.

Detective superintendent Tony Flemming told the media nothing was known to police.

“This male victim had no reason to suspect that he would be set upon.” Coue will next appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 12.