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A university lecturer who admitted murdering his wife at their suburban home after a heated argument over childcare arrangements has been jailed for up to 24 years.
Adam Brown, a 41-year-old gender studies and digital media lecturer at Deakin University, was sentenced by the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, after last year admitting the murder of his wife, Chen Cheng, 35.
The couple began arguing in an upstairs bedroom of their unit in Melbourne‘s east, on the evening of April 30, and then moved downstairs to the kitchen, where Brown claimed they both grabbed knifes.
41-year-old gender studies and digital media lecturer at Deakin University, Adam Brown (pictured), has been sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for murdering his wife last year
Neighbours heard Ms Cheng scream ‘help me, help me, he’s trying to kill me’ before she died, and Brown telling her ‘stop’, ‘get down’, ‘shut up’.
The fight moved to the backyard, where the couple struggled on the grass over a knife. Brown stabbed Ms Cheng several times, including large wounds to her neck and chest.
Neighbours knocked on the door until Brown let them inside. They found Ms Cheng, bleeding with her body lying lifeless on the grass.
One of the neighbours, a nurse, tried to perform CPR on Ms Cheng. Paramedics arrived and declared her dead at the scene about 10.40pm.
Brown was dressed in a suit and tie as he appeared at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where he learned his fate.
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Justice John Champion sentenced him to 24 years in prison for the ‘savage and sustained attack’ on his wife while their two-year-old son was in the same house.
Ms Cheng was last heard screaming for help just behind a fence at their Melbourne house (pictured), before neighbours found her lifeless and bleeding on the grass
The judge slammed Brown’s claim that he and Chen Cheng, 35, (bother pictured) had stabbed each other following an argument,
The judge rejected Brown’s claims to police that the couple had stabbed each other during the fight.
Brown had only sustained minor injuries, whereas Ms Cheng received multiple stab wounds including deep cuts to her neck and chest.
‘Ms Cheng fought for her life against your attack on her … she was terrified of what was occurring,’ Justice Champion said.
Brown has already served more than a year of his sentence and will be eligible for parole after 17-and-a-half years.
He waved to his family and friends in court, as he was escorted out to a prison van.
