‘Ultimate form of coercive control’: Nunia Kurualeba’s ‘jealous’ killer Jeremaia Tuwai jailed for 21 years

WARNING: Distressing content A killer’s actions have been branded the “ultimate form of coercive control” in court after he brutally murdered his partner over jealousy and fear she would pursue “his romantic rival”. Jeremaia Tuwai has admitted to dragging his partner Nunia Kurualeba from the street by her shirt and up the stairs of their unit before killing her with a knife he had hidden under a pillow in their bedroom on July 8, 2024. The court was told of a pattern of coercive control and intimate partner violence perpetrated by Tuwai in the lead-up to the murder. This included physical assaults and the surveilling of Ms Kurualeba’s phone and social media use, with Tuwai, then 22, telling his partner to “start saying goodbye to your family” the day before he murdered her. He told Ms Kurualeba’s cousin “tell that girl I will suicide her” and also threatened her by saying “one day, I will kill you” on another occasion. Tuwai was jailed for 21 years on Friday morning, listening from the dock in the NSW Supreme Court as Justice Stephen Campbell detailed how he had been motivated by “sexual jealousy and anger”. “Anger because Ms Kurualeba dared to exercise her right to end their abusive relationship and perhaps to form a new one,” Justice Campbell said. “This is the ultimate form of coercive controlling behaviour … this is an offence of murder committed by a man against his domestic partner motivated by anger, jealousy and control which elevates the objective seriousness of the offending.” Ms Kurualeba, 21, had been trying to collect her things from the Kingswood unit she shared with Tuwai and others in Sydney’s west so she could return to Fiji when he killed her. Tuwai feared Ms Kurualeba was going back to Fiji to be with “his romantic rival” and was unwilling “to allow Ms Kurualeba to live her own life without him”, Justice Stephen Campbell ruled on Friday. “It could not have been lost upon him that Ms Kurualeba was done with their relationship and did not wish to see him again,” Justice Campbell said. Victim would have known ‘life was slipping from her’ He said there was “no doubt that Ms Kurualeba knew what was happening and would have been very frightened” as Tuwai killed her. “She would have been aware that life was slipping from her,” Justice Campbell said. Relatives of Ms Kurualeba said they were “so sad that we’ve lost her” and that “it can happen to anybody” while speaking outside court on Friday. Her mother and sister previously said knowing their loved one’s life ended with violence “haunts” their family, whose nights are now “sleepless” and “filled with tears and nightmares”. ‘Start saying goodbye to your family’ Tuwai had sent his partner a threatening message the day before murdering Ms Kurualeba after she kicked him out of their unit. “You are a lesbian, I don’t want you because you have gone with other boys before me … start saying goodbye to your family until we meet again rip,” he wrote. Tuwai then told her cousin “tell that girl I will suicide her”. Ms Kurualeba believed Tuwai would be at work when she returned to the unit with two of her cousins the next day to gather her things so she could return to Fiji. She waited outside while her cousin checked if it was safe to go in but the trio fled when they realised he was inside. He chased them and grabbed hold of Ms Kurualeba’s shirt, dragging her back into the unit as she pleaded for help. Tuwai locked their bedroom door but Ms Kurualeba managed to get it open before he punched her in the head five times and stabbed her twice with a knife he had hidden under a pillow. Victim’s cousin commended for bravery Justice Campbell commended the bravery of Ms Kurualeba’s cousin, Adivika Tinai, who kicked Tuwai in the stomach and struggled over the knife before she slapped the weapon out of his hand in a bid to save her cousin’s life. “Where many would have baulked or at least hesitated before putting themselves in harm’s way, she did neither … her bravery deserves everybody’s admiration and thanks,” he said. Justice Campbell found the murder was premeditated, telling the court Tuwai had gone back to “make good” on threats he had made to his partner. Tuwai apologised to Ms Kurualeba’s family and promised to reform in a letter written to the court, with Justice Campbell finding the now 23-year-old is remorseful. He will be eligible for parole in April 2040 after serving his non-parole period of 15 years and nine months. news.com.au mental health helplines