Thursday 13 March 2008

Lover killed for saying no to 'The Boss'

A woman snapped and stabbed her partner to death after he objected to her listening to Bruce Springsteen music, a court has been told.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane today heard Karen Lee Cooper, 50, used a long-bladed kitchen knife to stab 49-year-old Kevin Watson once in the chest because she "just got tired" of him bossing her around.

She pleaded guilty today to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years jail.

The court was told the pair had been drinking at their rented home at Cedar Vale, south of Brisbane, on July 8, 2006, when an argument broke out over Cooper's choice of music.

Defence lawyer Greg Maguire said Cooper experienced a "brain snap" and ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, which she used to stab Mr Watson after he said he didn't want to listen to a Bruce Springsteen CD.

"I mean, who the hell doesn't like Bruce Springsteen, for God's sake?" she later told arresting police.

"I just picked up a knife and I went 'boom'."

The knife pierced Mr Watson's aorta and oesophagus, and he died at the scene.

The court was told Cooper dialled triple-0 and requested an ambulance before taking a handful of painkillers.

She later told police she had hoped the pills would kill her before they arrived.

The court was told she regretted stabbing her partner, and that she believed he didn't deserve to die.

Cooper has already served 613 days in custody.

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