A stalker who sent hundreds of calls and texts to a Sydney nursing student before stabbing her to death in her home has been sentenced to at least 21 years behind bars.
David Tran, 29, appeared for sentencing in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday after he was charged with the murder of Brazilian woman Daiane Pelegrini in 2020.
Tran first met Ms Pelegrini in early 2020 at a massage parlour which provided sexual services, where she moonlighted while working in aged care and studying nursing.
The Bankstown man then became obsessed with Ms Pelegrini, breaking into her unit in August 2020 and fatally stabbing in her home in Sydney’s northwest.
The court heard how the then-25-year-old took a large knife from the kitchen and hid until she got home, attacking her when she went to her bedroom to get a jacket.
Justice Julia Lonergan said Ms Pelegrini suffered over 20 stab wounds during the “vicious and prolonged” attack, including several to her breasts and genitalia.
“The murder took place in her home, a place where she was entitled to feel safe,” Justice Lonergan said on Friday afternoon.
“The terror she felt must have been immense. I cannot ignore the fact he inflicted stab wounds to her genitalia.”
The court heard how Ms Pelegrini reached out to Tran in March 2020 directly via WhatsApp after the massage parlour closed due to Covid-19.
The pair began a “friendship of sorts” with Tran telling Ms Pelegrini she was his first girlfriend.
“It is clear Daiane was engaging with clients directly to earn income. She was the only breadwinner at the time [for her family] and had to find a way to pay the bills,” Justice Lonergan said.
As months progressed, Tran began showing up at her unit unannounced, and at one point, showed up to her gym uninvited.
Ms Pelegrini blocked Tran and told him to stop calling and to “leave her alone” or she would call the police.
At one point, Mr Tran messaged Ms Pelegrini’s best friend in Brazil and asked them to tell her to unblock him.
“She’s mad at me for giving me too much attention but I don’t understand why she would leave me, please get her to talk to me,” he wrote.
Police have been informed previously that Tran had been stalking Ms Pelegrini ahead of her murder on August 3.
The court heard how Ms Pelegrini begged Tran to call an ambulance after the stabbing and told him she forgave him in an effort to save her life.
She was still alive when paramedics arrived, but was unable to be saved.
“He did nothing to help her,” Justice Lonergan said.
Tran falsely told police after the stabbing that he had been in a relationship with Ms Pelegrini for six to seven months and had found her cheating on him when he arrived at her unit.
In a statement to the court, Ms Pelegrini’s older sister Gizelle wrote how she missed her little sister “terribly”.
“She cannot write anymore in the book of her life,” she wrote.
Tran wore a white collared shirt and did not change his facial expressions throughout the 45 minute Judgement.
Justice Lonergan said that while Tran suffered from schizophrenia, it did not affect his moral capability in committing the offence.
He was handed a total 28 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 21 years for the charges of murder, using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend, entering dwelling with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Tran will be eligible for release on February 2, 2042.