Kimberley woman who slashed relative’s neck with wine bottle found guilty of manslaughter

A Western Australian woman has avoided a murder conviction but has been found guilty of manslaughter after slashing a woman’s neck with a wine bottle during a drunken row in the state’s far north.

Marianne Undalgumen, 37, appeared in the Kununurra Supreme Court this week charged with murder following the July 2023 death of Ms Unghango, whose name is withheld for cultural reasons.

During the argument, Marianne Undalgumen hit Ms Ungango with the bottle in a motion described in court as “straight in and slightly down”, severing the victim’s collarbone and puncturing a lung.

Despite the efforts of the police and medics to revive her, the woman died on the spot.

After several hours of deliberation, the jury found the defendant not guilty of murder but guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter in connection with Ms. Ungango’s death.

She was also found guilty of unlawfully wounding a second woman, a relative of hers, who she hit on the head with the same bottle.

The dispute ended in tragedy

Over the course of five days, the jury heard from various witnesses, many of whom were relatives of both the victim and the accused.

The court heard that most of the witnesses were intoxicated at the time of the incident.

The first to appear was Hilda May Undalgumen, who told the court on November 12 that she was angry with the accused for taking care of her daughter, who she had left in the care of another relative.

The witness said she approached Marianna Undalgumen, who was with a group of people outside Kununurra Water Park, holding a broken bottle, but threw it away before entering with her.

The court heard how Hilda May Undalgumen repeatedly punched Marianne Undalgumen in the face before sitting down to breastfeed her child.

Hearing the crash, Hilda May Undalgumen looked up to see Ms Ungango clutching her throat before running to the police station.

Another witness, Melissa Jane Martin, said she saw Marianne Undalgumen, who she said was “between drunk and sober,” stab the victim directly in the throat.

The court also heard evidence from Constable Tyler John Maxwell, the first police officer on the scene who said he found Marianne Undalgumen holding Ms. Ungango on her lap, visibly upset.

The footage, captured by the officer’s body-worn camera, also shows Marianne Undalgumen removing the victim’s clothes to reveal a wound on his neck, saying: “I made that one hole.”

DNA from the broken bottle and CCTV footage were also presented as evidence.

“puzzle”

In her closing arguments on Tuesday, defense lawyer Kate Turtley-Chappell said the prosecution had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Marianne Undalgumen deliberately and forcefully struck Ms Ungango with the intent to kill her or cause life-threatening injury.

She said that the painted picture is “far from clear and full of contradictions and gaps.”

Ms Turtley-Chappell told jurors doubts remained about the events unfolding “in a matter of seconds” and that intoxication was a “relevant piece of the puzzle”.

Prosecutor James Nicholls argued that Marianne Undalgumen had acted “in a fit of rage”, indicating her state of mind.

He said she “just cut and pulled things on the deceased” and was not surprised when she was fatally wounded.

Judge Natalie Whitby will sentence Marianne Undalgumen in March next year.