Man pleads guilty to stabbing ex-wife to death on Christmas Day

Darren Mark Wake appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Monday and spoke only once to enter a plea of guilty to the murder of midwife Rachel Wake.

Ms Wake died after being stabbed multiple times in front of her two children on the afternoon of December 25, 2021.

When police arrived at the house on Binalong Road in the Hobart suburb of Mornington, the woman was still alive with critical wounds to her chest.

But she was pronounced dead at the Royal Hobart Hospital shortly after arriving.

The two teenage children present at the time of the incident were not physically harmed, police said at the time.

The crown prosecutor asked that the matter be adjourned until February when the court will hear testimony around disputed facts of the case.

The stabbing happened at a house in the Hobart suburb of Mornington.

Mr Wake, 62, initially plead not guilty to the murder charge, and the case has been delayed for two years as prosecutors and defence counsel negotiated over a plea deal.

There had been speculation that the charge would be reduced to manslaughter.

Supreme Court Justice Helen Wood remanded Mr Wake in custody and ordered him to reappear on February 9 next year.