A woman accused of murdering Aaron Matthew Monaco at a Newnham unit has been found guilty.
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Mr Monaco was found at a neighbour’s door “soaked in blood” after being stabbed six times on November 4, 2016.
As he sat on the door step bleeding, the 41-year-old told police that Nathan Thomas Smith was responsible for stabbing him.
Belinda Leone Colbran and her partner Smith had been drinking and “smoking cones” before taking a taxi from the murderer’s house in Ravenswood to the unit to confront Mr Monaco, who they felt had overstayed his welcome.
Colbran told police she went to the unit to question Mr Monaco because she was angry he did not pay “her man” rent and had no regard for Smith’s property.
“I questioned him, I talked to him, and then I stabbed him,” she said.
But throughout the trial the jury heard a conflicting admission from Smith, who claimed he stabbed Mr Monaco and Colbran was not involved.
Smith was also charged with murder and was due to face the Launceston Supreme Court trial alongside Colbran, but he changed his plea to guilty on the morning the trial was set to start.
Crown Prosecutor John Ransom told the jury Smith’s admission changed his status from being a co-accused to a compelled witness in Colbran’s case, but his evidence had “logical difficulties”.
“You really need to approach this man’s evidence with extreme caution,” Mr Ransom said.
Police asked Colbran if she admitted to stabbing Mr Monaco to protect “her man”, but she told them Smith “doesn’t need my protection”.
She was also asked what she thought would happen after stabbing Mr Monaco multiple times, and she told police it’d do a “fair bit of damage”.
Mr Ransom said there were some acts so inherently dangerous you don’t need specialised knowledge to know it is likely to cause death.
Mr Monaco was pronounced dead at the Launceston General Hospital at 10.40pm on the same night as the stabbing.
Colbran and Smith will be sentenced at 9.30am on Tuesday.