Police waited more than 20 hours to enter slain woman's New South Wales apartment after 911 call, court hears

A New South Wales man has been jailed for life with a non-parole period of at least 18 years for the murder of Tatiana Dokhotaru, a 34-year-old woman who called police last year saying her ex-boyfriend was “trying to kill me.” The court heard that officers waited more than 20 hours to enter Dokhotaru’s apartment after the 911 call and that the killer, Danny Zayat, was seen fleeing the building three minutes later on CCTV as he stole her savings.

The emergency call ended abruptly when Zayat reportedly snatched Dokhotaru’s phone and threw it from a balcony, cutting off the operator’s ability to obtain the apartment number or other locating details. Police attended the scene three hours after the call but were unable to determine the call’s location within the block and left without entering the building. By the following evening, Dokhotaru had died of a brain hemorrhage attributed to blunt-force injuries to the head, a timeline the Supreme Court said was consistent with the period between the 911 call and early the next morning.

Police later returned to Dokhotaru’s home after Zayat had reportedly returned and found her dead on the couch, and body-worn camera footage shown in court captured him crying in a way prosecutors described as crocodile tears. The court noted that exact time of death could not be determined, but concluded Dokhotaru died sometime after the 911 call and before dawn the following day. NSW Police said they would not comment while a critical-incident investigation was ongoing.

The sentencing process detailed a long, volatile pattern of abuse and coercive control centered on Zayat’s jealousy and his insistence on dominance over Dokhotaru. The judge, Justice Desmond Fagan, described a “cycle of control and manipulation” that escalated from May 2021 through Dokhotaru’s 2022 attempts to obtain a protection order and ultimately culminated in her death. Prosecutors told the court that Zayat would fly into rages when he learned of her interactions with other men or when she attempted to establish boundaries. He was described as repeatedly threatening violence and manipulating Dokhotaru’s sense of security, including attempts to exert control through intimidation and isolation.

The relationship had lasted five years, from 2017 until Dokhotaru ended it in November 2022. In the months that followed, Zayat’s behavior intensified. An apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) was served on him in April 2022 after she reported stalking, harassment, intimidation, assault and threats. When the order was served, Zayat allegedly responded with threats, telling Dokhotaru, “I’m going to f–king kill you.” The court heard details of verbal abuse that prosecutors described as severe and persistent, including episodes in which he confronted men Dokhotaru was associated with and accused her of infidelity.

The court heard further allegations that Zayat strangled Dokhotaru in late 2022 or early 2023 when she was dating someone else, and that he again became violent in April 2023 after going through her phone while she was in the shower. CCTV captured him fleeing the building about three minutes after the 911 call began, having stolen her savings. Reports presented at trial described Dokhotaru’s attempts to seek help and the fear that violence would escalate if she contacted authorities again. Text messages from Dokhotaru to a friend in the days after one assault depicted her fear and distress, including an account of being dragged by the hair, spat upon, and threatened with death if she called police.

"I genuinely forgave you for everything yesterday how Fuking dumb," Dokhotaru texted a friend after one incident, describing how she had tried to preserve the relationship. Zayat reportedly replied that he did not trust her and wanted to start over, even as he acknowledged his own emotional turmoil and claimed to be seeking counseling, a claim the court found unsupported by evidence.

In late May 2023, neighbors heard loud banging, shouting and “very obscene abuse in a guttural tone” emanating from Dokhotaru’s apartment as the events leading to her death unfolded. Investigators described the murder as the culmination of years of coercive control and abuse. Prosecutors argued that Zayat’s conduct toward Dokhotaru underscored a pattern intended to intimidate and disable her from seeking help or leaving the relationship.

The court found that Dokhotaru’s death occurred on or after May 26, 2023, while Zayat was present in the apartment; he was later convicted of murder. He will be eligible for parole in 2043, after serving a minimum of 18 years in prison. The verdict and sentence reflected the court’s view of the violence as part of a long-running pattern rather than a single moment of impulsive rage. In issuing the sentence, Justice Fagan emphasized the severity of the abuse and the calculated nature of the crime, noting the “cycle of control and manipulation” that began years before the final act.

The case has drawn renewed attention to the limitations of emergency response in cases of domestic violence, with authorities describing the need for rapid, thorough access to threatened individuals. NSW Police declined to comment on the sentence, citing the ongoing critical-incident review.

The details presented in court paint a stark portrait of a relationship characterized by intimidation, fear and recurring violence. Dokhotaru’s family and friends have spoken of the courage she showed in seeking protection, even as the system she turned to for help was judged as having delayed entry to the apartment — a delay prosecutors characterized as a critical and preventable failure in a life-or-death situation.

The case underscores the danger of coercive control in intimate-partner relationships and the difficulty of balancing immediate response with the need to locate victims within large apartment complexes. Advocacy groups have urged reforms to ensure faster access to victims in high-rise buildings and better coordination among police, social workers, and courts, particularly when a victim’s safety depends on locating them within sprawling urban structures.

As the community continues to process the verdict, authorities emphasize that there is no calculus that can fully repair the harm done to Dokhotaru or undo the years of abuse she endured. The court’s ruling, they say, serves as a stark reminder of the consequences for those who engage in systemic domestic violence and the families left to pick up the pieces after such tragedies.

The case also highlights the importance of community awareness and support, as neighbors reported the disturbance that night but may not have realized the danger to Dokhotaru or the signs of escalating abuse that preceded the fatal incident. Investigators and advocates say continued attention to domestic violence prevention, early intervention, and safe, accessible reporting channels remain essential in preventing similar tragedies in the future.

The court’s decision and the details of Dokhotaru’s life and death will likely be cited in ongoing discussions about police response times, emergency access to buildings and the protection of domestic-violence victims in densely populated cities. While the tragedy is specific to one relationship’s end, the lessons drawn by prosecutors, judges and advocates are seen as broadly applicable to a society grappling with how best to safeguard those at risk within intimate partnerships.