A man was convicted Thursday of stabbing his estranged girlfriend to death on a remote beach in Adelaide.
Douglas Pratt, 27, showed no emotion as the jurors returned a unanimous verdict of guilty in the November 22, 2010 murder of Shande Cartwright.
By contrast, Shande's mother, Mary Cartwright, convulsed with tears and had to be carried out of the courtroom.
Pratt, who was on bail during the trial, has been remanded to Her Majesty's Prisons until his sentencing hearing on June 19.
Sandradee Gardiner, the prosecutor, said the Crown was not seeking the death penalty in the murder that she described as a crime of passion in her closing address.
Cartwright had two children with Pratt.
Pratt told a doctor, and residents of Adelaide Village, that Cartwright, 23, was stabbed 17 times by an armed robber.
According to Pratt, two assailants - one armed with a knife, the other with a gun - accosted him and Cartwright as they had a picnic under the moonlight.
Pratt escaped with superficial wounds that he claimed were inflicted during a struggle with the man with the knife.
Dr. Ricky Ricardo Davis, the emergency room doctor who attended Pratt, said he expected to find more severe injuries from the assault described by Pratt.
In his opinion, Pratt's injuries may have been self-inflicted and were not consistent with defensive wounds.
Pratt admitted to stabbing Cartwright when questioned by police on November 23. According to his statement, Cartwright stabbed him but he wrested the knife from her and stabbed her.
Pratt, who exercised his right to remain silent, alleged through his lawyer, Murrio Ducille, that he made the statements under duress, an allegation that the investigating officers denied.

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