<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An accused murderer's texts to his ex-partner weeks before her death undermine allegations he badly beat her with the intention of ending her life, a court has been told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tatiana "Tanya" Dokhotaru died in her 22nd-floor apartment in southwest Sydney on the night of May 26, 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 34-year-old was allegedly killed by ex-boyfriend Danny Zayat, who is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to her murder.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-melissa-landfall-jamaica-live-updates-most-powerful-storm-of-2025/39ea098e-c578-4dec-8d68-3a844c6d72e4" target="_blank"><strong><span>Hurricane Melissa tears through Jamaica</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His lawyer argued texts sent by Zayat in the weeks before his ex-partner's death show he loved and cherished her, despite their volatile and dysfunctional relationship.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I really wish things could have been different between us, but I'm a f---- up … I don't want to continue to drag you down with me like I have been," Zayat texted her on May 6.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You will always be my first proper love, and I don't think I could ever love anyone else like I love you."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/alleged-murderer-claims-true-love-for-ex-casts-doubt/bfb531e9-cb67-4c27-af49-54dbcdf4bb53" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In another text exchange, days later, read in court, he called Dokhotaru "perfect" and told her: "Our souls belong together".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had been staying with her and their relationship was better than it had previously been, Zayat's barrister, Madeleine Avenell SC, told the court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'd suggest that at a minimum, these messages, the way they reflect the true love Zayat has for Dokhotaru, at least would raise a doubt as to intent as well as his conduct," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 30-year-old is accused of inflicting one or more blows to Dokhotaru's head, possibly in combination with a push that caused her to fall.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Avenell argued there was a reasonable possibility her fatal brain injury might have been a result of accidents rather than three injuries deliberately inflicted by Zayat.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The moderate force of the impacts was inconsistent with a strong, muscular man in a rage who wanted to seriously hurt or kill a smaller woman, she told the jury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/year-12-history-exam-error-minister-vows-investigation-after-hundreds-students-taught-wrong-syllabus/77fb717b-1dab-42dd-8fd5-dc7edfb5cbd2" target="_blank"><strong><span>Minister to investigate after year 12s taught wrong subject for final exam</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is not a bare space apartment. There are real obstacles and real hazards around … that a person could easily trip over," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A toxicologist concluded a combination of substances in Dokhotaru's system could have induced drowsiness, reduced coordination and a lowered ability to protect herself from injury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zayat has denied physically abusing Dokhotaru during their relationship, telling police she had been "off her head on drugs" days before her death when she "smashed her head" on the kitchen bench.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His lawyer said the 30-year-old was "extremely distressed" when he found his ex's body the day after her death, crying as he did chest compressions while on the phone to triple zero.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This kind of response is not consistent with a person who acted with an intent to cause grievous harm," Avenell said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dokhotaru made an 89-second call to triple zero shortly before her death, the jury was told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Yes, hi. My ex-boyfriend's here and he's trying to kill me," she told the operator before the call was cut off.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In her closing remarks, Avenell urged jurors to be wary of the prosecutor's "tendency to put a nefarious spin on everything Zayat did" and to consider the evidence carefully.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury is expected to retire to begin deliberations tomorrow.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available from the</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>at</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/" title="https://www.1800respect.org.au/"><strong><span>1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)</span></strong></a><strong><span>.</span></strong></div></div>