Former AFL and NRL rookie Shem Tatupu repeatedly strangled and stabbed his partner in a monstrous case of family violence which spanned nine hours and left the tip of a knife blade permanently lodged in his victim’s skull, a court has heard.
The “animalistic” attack took place in their Parkdale home on May 19, 2025 and involved “extreme degradation” of Tatupu’s then-girlfriend who’d told him she wanted to end their brief yet controlling four-month relationship.
Weeks earlier he had been sentenced for violence against a separate ex-partner, it can be revealed.
Initially charged with attempted murder, Tatupu pleaded guilty to downgraded charges of intentionally causing serious injury, non-fatal strangulation causing injury and common assault and will be sentenced in the Supreme Court on Monday.
The court heard after the woman, 24, broke up with Tatupu, 30, she placed her belongings in her car and returned to find her phone and keys missing and Tatupu – who stands over two metres tall and weighs 160 kilograms – threatening, “You’re not going anywhere until you answer me”.
He accused her of cheating and dragged her by her hoodie back into their bedroom, saying: “I’ve got nothing to lose. I want to go to jail.”
Over the next 10 minutes, Tatupu strangled her eight times, preventing her from breathing.
In an effort to survive, the victim gave a false confession of infidelity and played dead.
The court heard Tatupu held her captive in their bedroom for the next five hours, stopping her from getting dressed or using the bathroom.
Knowing his girlfriend was expected at a family dinner, Tatupu forced her to text her mother to avoid suspicion before taking her phone back.
“Hey mama, I can’t make dinner tonight. I’m sick. I think I have gastro. I’m sorry,” the text read.
Around 5pm, after Tatupu’s mother arrived home, the victim convinced him to let her use the bathroom by promising to cover her bruised body with a dressing gown.
“You better not put me on show. I don’t care. I’ll do it in front of mum. You come straight f — king back,” Tatupu threatened.
The victim found Tatupu’s mother who sensed danger and tried to intervene as her son grabbed his girlfriend by the hair and punched and choked her on the floor before she broke free and fled toward the garage.
The court heard Tatupu retrieved a large kitchen knife and chased her down.
“You’re going to kill her. She doesn’t deserve this,” his mother yelled as she called police.
Officers arrived at 7.31pm to find Tatupu repeatedly stabbing the victim in the back of the head.
The court heard he stomped on her head before being doused in OC spray and arrested.
The victim was rushed to the Alfred Hospital with multiple skull fractures.
Doctors discovered the tip of Tatupu’s 18.5cm blade embedded in her skull and warned removing it was too dangerous.
Bravely detailing ongoing memory loss, night terrors and broken trust from the day she could have died, the woman said: “I carry the consequences of his actions every day.”
“I just want to return to the woman I was before this happened,” she told the court.
Her family said Tatupu led them to believe he was a good partner.
They did not know the lengths he went to control her including making her quit her job, restricting her movements and attempting to cut her from them.
Her father spoke of Tatupu’s “evilness” as her mother said she will forever be haunted by the memory of her daughter bruised and bloodied in hospital.
“We could have lost her that day,” she said.
Crown prosecutor Daniel Porcheddu said “this case could quite easily have been a homicide,” highlighting that Tatupu chose to continue his violence over nine hours despite multiple opportunities to stop.
The attack’s brutality prompted a rare victim impact statement from one of the officers who was so traumatised by what she witnessed she isn’t sure if she can continue policing.
She said: “It scares me that people like you exist”.
“I couldn’t believe how animalistic and violent you are and that I was helpless. I couldn’t stop you.
“I never want to witness anything like that again … you ruined and changed so many lives in one day.”
The court heard Tatupu was mostly remorseful for how his actions had impacted him and his family, not his victim.
Prosecution and defence disagree about whether he was in a state of drug-induced psychosis at the time.
Tatupu had a lengthy drug abuse history but had not taken any illicit substances in the lead up to the attack, the court heard.
His barrister Belinda Franjic said Tatupu descended into drug use in 2022 after losing his job at a primary school where his mother worked due to four family violence incidents involving his partner.
He received a community corrections order without conviction for assault and property damage just weeks before attacking his new girlfriend, the court heard.
Born in New Zealand, Tatupu moved to Melbourne after high school when he was drafted by Hawthorn in 2013 and spent three seasons on the Hawks’ list while playing VFL for the Box Hill Hawks.
He never played an AFL match game for the club, which terminated his contract early so he could play for Melbourne Storm which also let him go prior to the end of his contract in late 2017.