Three months after her body was discovered in a flat in Sydney’s southwest, Tatiana Dokhotaru’s former partner has been accused of killing her.
In connection with her passing, NSW Police executed a dawn raid at a residence in Colyton and detained Danny Zayat. Murder charges have already been brought against the 28-year-old.
He had already been charged with 22 counts of domestic abuse against Dokhotaru. He appeared in Penrith Local Court on Monday without requesting bail. In September, the murder charge and the domestic violence charge will be tried in his case.
Police will claim that Zayat assaulted Dokhotaru shortly after she dialed triple zero and caused her death by striking her in the head.
Dokhotaru allegedly said to the operator at triple zero, “He’s bashing me, my husband’s taking all the money from my house.”
Three hours later, police in Liverpool went to her Norfolk Street apartment building but were unable to locate her without a unit number.
The mother, 34, was discovered dead on May 27 at 8 p.m. 20 hours later.
“It doesn’t get much worse than a woman being killed in her own unit,” said Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty.
Strike Force Median was established by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad and Liverpool City Police Area Command to look into the circumstances surrounding Dokhotaru’s passing.
Police disclosed last week that they were looking for a phone that surveillance footage showed was tossed out of Dokhotaru’s unit’s window.
Doherty acknowledged that the phone was still missing today.
Doherty also disclosed that a young child, who had been at Dokhotaru’s apartment for 18 hours prior to her body being found, had witnessed the suspected murder.
“It’s a vile crime, under very tragic circumstances,” he remarked.
Last Monday, detectives took a plane to Canada to conduct an investigation into her death. There, they spoke with the young child who was supposedly present during the murder.
The three-month delay in Zayat’s arrest, according to the police, was also caused by the necessity for officers to wait for the findings of an autopsy, which revealed Dokhotaru died from a fatal injury, and a toxicology report, which allegedly refuted Zayat’s assertions that she overdosed.
The discovery was disappointing news for Dokhotaru’s loved ones. Tendayi Chivunga, an attorney, stated, “The family and I are still in mourning. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster.”
