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SAS Australia: Hell Week star Lena Kasparian broke down in tears as she relived a horrifying incident in her kitchen in 2011 that resulted in her abusive partner dying.
On Monday’s premiere episode, the Sydney fashion designer, 42, recalled how her drunk boyfriend Marc Zartarian attacked her with a saucepan after they left a party.
Having picked up a knife to defend herself from his attack, Zartarian walked towards her in a frenzied state, before stepping into the blade. He died six days later.
Harrowing ordeal: SAS Australia: Hell Week star and domestic violence victim Lena Kasparian (pictured) broke down in tears on Monday’s episode as she relived the horrifying ordeal that saw her abusive partner dead after he attacked her with a saucepan
‘We had a really bad event at home… domestic violence and he didn’t survive. He died six days after the incident,’ Kasparian told SAS Australia’s Ant Middleton and Jason Fox.
‘We came home from a party and he was a monster, he wasn’t him. He started attacking me and grabbed a saucepan and started hitting me.’
Kasparian said she was trying to protect her two young children, with her three-year-old son having wrapped himself around her leg.
Incident: The 42-year-old recalled how her drunk boyfriend Marc Zartarian attacked her with a saucepan in the kitchen in 2011 after they returned home from a party
Frenzied attack: Having picked up a knife to defend herself from his attack, Zartarian walked towards her in a frenzied state, before stepping into the blade. He died six days later. Pictured: Chief Instructor Ant Middleton listening to Kasparian’s ordeal
‘I was just trying to protect his head because if he misses me, my son is dead. My daughter was behind him kicking him saying, “leave my mummy alone”,’ she said.
Kasparian broke down in tears as she recalled doing everything in her power to defend herself and protect her son.
‘I was leaning against the kitchen bench and I just sort of shuffled to see what I could find and there was a knife there. So I grabbed it and I held it against my chest still trying to push my son away,’ she said.
Protecting her children: Kasparian said she was trying to protect her two young children, with her three-year-old son having wrapped himself around her leg. ‘I was just trying to protect his head because if he misses me, my son is dead,’ she said
Ordeal: She recalled doing everything in her power to protect her son. ‘I was leaning against the kitchen bench and I just sort of shuffled to see what I could find and there was a knife there. So I grabbed it and I held it against my chest still trying to push my son away,’ she said
‘He was chest out, coming at me and he ends up thrusting towards me and the tip of the knife went into his chest.’
It entered his body by just 1.4 centimetres, missing his cartilage but piercing his heart.
Kasparian said she called for an ambulance which never arrived, and was cuffed and ‘put in the garage’ and told to ‘shut up’ by police who treated her ‘like a criminal’.
She was charged with murder at his funeral but was acquitted after a jury at New South Wales Supreme Court found she acted in self-defence.
Self-defence: ‘He was chest out, coming at me and he ends up thrusting towards me and the tip of the knife went into his chest,’ Kasparian said. It entered his body by just 1.4 centimetres, missing his cartilage but piercing his heart
In court, Kasparian insisted that she used no force when she held the knife. She said she didn’t know if he tripped or missed a step before the knife entered his chest.
In June 2018, Kasparian relived the moment she was told her abusive partner was dead and how she felt ‘robbed’ she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him.
‘I think I fell to my knees, I couldn’t accept it,’ she told 60 Minutes, wiping away tears.
Abusive ex-partner: The evening gown and wedding dress designer is pictured with Zartarian
‘I said, no, you’re lying that he died. I had just lost the man that I loved. I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to him or be by his side, or to say sorry or to say I forgive you. I didn’t get to do any of that stuff. I felt robbed.’
The emotional mother of two told 60 Minutes’ Tara Brown she didn’t think his death would result in a murder charge for her.
When asked if her grief was about herself at that point, she replied: ‘No, no, it was about him.’
Previous TV interview: Kasparian, pictured at the police station in 2011, told 60 Minutes in June 2018 that she regrets picking up the knife to defend herself against her partner
Evidence: This image from the scene shows the saucepan and knife used in the incident in 2011
Not guilty: Kasparian was originally charged with murder but acquitted after a jury at NSW Supreme Court found she acted in self-defence. Pictured leaving court in September 2012
She admitted she regrets picking up the knife to defend herself.
‘But then, what am I going to pick up, a wooden spoon?’ she said.
‘If I didn’t pick up the knife, would he have picked up and used it against me? So it was just an instant and maternal instinct. I just wanted to protect my children and scare him off.’
For confidential support relating to domestic violence or abuse, please contact 1800 Respect on 1800 737 732.
Understandably emotional: Kasparian relived the moment she was told her abusive partner was dead and how she felt ‘robbed’ she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him. ‘I think I fell to my knees, I couldn’t accept it,’ she told 60 Minutes, wiping away tears
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