Twelve months in prison for attack on husband’s girlfriend | THE DAILY HERALD

PHILIPSBURG–A 35-year-old woman was sentenced on Wednesday to 24 months, twelve of which were suspended, on two years’ probation. The Court found Karen Cecilia Oyola Torralvo Cohen guilty of inflicting grievous bodily injury in a brutal knife attack on her husband’s girlfriend, who was working at Platinum Room adult entertainment centre, on July 13.

  Her husband told her during a day at the beach that he was going to leave her for another woman. Her husband works at Platinum Room and his father owns the establishment.

  The suspect wife told the Court she felt humiliated and hurt because her husband had been lying to her, as he had been in a relationship with the woman for almost a year.

  She said she had driven to her rival’s house, as she wanted to talk to her. At the house, she pulled a large knife from her handbag and stabbed the woman in her legs and arms. As the victim’s ligaments in both her knees were cut, she fell to the ground and was left there to bleed.

  According to the defendant, she had been held by her hair and had used the knife to free herself, but in referring to the “gruesome” pictures of the woman’s injuries in the case file, the Judge said it seemed as if she had acted in anger.

  “There are only losers in this case,” the Prosecutor said. The victim is in a wheelchair and may never be able to walk or dance again, the defendant is charged with a very serious crime and the unfaithful husband is in the middle, he said.

  “Emotions flared high in this case in which the suspect attacked her husband’s girlfriend. I am convinced that she wanted revenge, because she did not want the exotic dancer to take her husband, and intentionally inflicted severe bodily harm.”

  The Prosecutor said he did not believe “for a second” that the defendant had acted in self-defence, as the victim had been attacked in the hallway of her own house. “It exactly was Oyola’s intention that the victim could never walk and dance again,” the Prosecutor said.

  He said he did not believe that the defendant had the intention to kill. “She was out to send her a message in hurting her so that the woman would respect her, she said.” Therefore, the Prosecutor demanded acquittal of manslaughter, but considered severe mistreatment proven.

  Attorney-at-law Shaira Bommel pleaded not guilty on the manslaughter charges and stated her client should also be acquitted of severe mistreatment as she had acted in self-defence.

  “Her marriage is over after her husband betrayed her. My client is really sorry about what happened and still does not realise how it all ended in such a disaster. She hopes that the victim will forgive her,” the lawyer said in pleading for a conditional sentence.

  The Judge acquitted Oyola of the primary count as there was no proof that she had had the intention to kill, but the Court did find the intentional inflicting of grievous bodily harm proven.

  “The victim suffered much pain and almost lost her life and will suffer from the consequence for the rest of her life,” the Judge said. “The suspect’s marital problems and emotions are no justification for her acts.”

  He said the Prosecutor could have asked for a four- to five-year prison sentence for the mother of two young girls, but called the Prosecutor’s demand, which included a contact ban with the victim, “sympathetic.”

  Oyola was sentenced according to the Prosecutor’s demand. She may serve her sentence in the Pointe Blanche prison, or in France, where she wants to continue her life.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/81949-twelve-months-in-prison-for-attack-on-husband-s-girlfriend

LEAVE A REPLY