Mr Monaco was found at a neighbour’s door “soaked in blood” after being stabbed six times at a unit on Parua Road, Newnham, on November 4, 2016. 

Bleeding out from his wounds, the 41-year-old managed to tell police Nathan Thomas Smith was responsible for stabbing him. 

Mr Monaco’s sister Holly Mason-White has been in the courtroom every day of the trial, and said her family was relieved by the outcome. 

It took the Launceston Supreme Court jury just shy of four hours to reach the unanimous verdict. 

Belinda Leone Colbran and her partner Smith had been drinking and “smoking cones” before taking a taxi from the murderer’s house at Ravenswood to the unit to confront Mr Monaco, who they felt had overstayed his welcome. 

Colbran told police she was angry at Mr Monaco because he did not pay “her man” rent and he 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 his girlfriend was not involved. 

Smith was also charged with murder and was due to face the 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 guilty plea 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 would 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 on the same night as the stabbing. 

Colbran and Smith were remanded to reappear on Tuesday.