Kenneth James Knight pleads guilty to murdering partner Cassandra Brown in domestic violence stabbing at Bourke

Kenneth James Knight, 52, appeared on screen from Clarence correctional centre in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday where he confirmed his plea of guilt to murdering his partner of 30 years Cassandra Brown, 47, in Bourke on March 13, 2021.

In the night leading up to the murder, Knight had been at Ms Brown's home, before she left work as a cleaner at the Aboriginal Medical Centre about 3.30pm, court documents revealed.

When she left, Knight began drinking cans of Smirnoff vodka and a can of Jim Beam, before heading to the Bourke Bowling Club.

After finishing work, Ms Brown also attended the bowling club, and both remained drinking and socialising there until midnight when it closed.

CCTV footage from the club showed Knight consumed about 11 schooners of beer, it also shows that Knight and Ms Brown did not drink or socialise together the entire time they were at the club that night.

The pair left shortly after midnight, Knight was ahead of Ms Brown and waited for her at the club's entrance, before they both caught the courtesy bus.

The driver of the bus remembers Knight asking Ms Brown if she wanted him to stay at her home, but he didn't hear the answer.

The pair were dropped off, and later people inside the home heard Knight and Ms Brown arguing about where he should sleep. She didn't want Knight to sleep with her.

"Don't talk to me light that, you can go along," Ms Brown told Knight saying he should go or she would get the police to take him.

Knight walked into the kitchen and picked up a black-handled knife. He held it behind his back and approached Ms Brown who was standing in the bedroom doorway.

He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her backwards and stabbed her in the back with the knife in his right hand.

Ms Brown was leaning against a fridge in the bedroom and screamed out telling a family member "Kenneth stabbed me", before she fell to the ground with blood pouring from the wound in her back.

Knight threw the knife into the laundry and left the house.

A family member grabbed a towel from the kitchen and applied pressure to the wound in Ms Brown's back, before contacting triple-zero for help.

Another person found Knight sitting on the road at the end of the driveway and asked "what the f--k did you do that for?" when he said "because she doesn't love me anymore".

Police arrived and found Knight lying in the middle of the road. He was instructed to sit on the kerb when he got up and staggered toward the police vehicle motioning he wanted a lift saying "take me away".

He was again directed to go to the kerb, where he eventually sat down with difficulty and laid on his back.

Officers entered the house and assisted with the first aid of Ms Brown, however when paramedics arrived at 12.41am she was unresponsive and after advanced CPR she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police found the knife on the floor of the laundry inside the house which had blood visible on the blade.

Officers placed paper exhibit bags over the hands of the Knight and told him he was under arrest for stabbing Ms Brown, when he said "I love my woman, bud".

In a recorded conversation he said to police "Yeah, well I done it" and when asked if he knew about the events that took place said "I love my woman mate".

Knight was taken to hospital, as his speech was slurred, sluggish, smelt of alcohol, had trouble moving, and seemed to have trouble comprehending what was said.

At 3.30am he was taken to Bourke Police Station, spoke with a legal representative and given a time out to recover from his intoxication.

Between 9am and 10am Knight took part in an interview where he confirmed he had about 10 to 20 schooners of Toohey's extra dry beer at the club the night before.

He said he couldn't remember whether Ms Brown was on the bus, but remembered he got off at her house, with the intention of sleeping there.

He had some recollection of Ms Brown talking about ringing the police, but thought he had said "I'll go".

When he was asked what happened in the house, Knight told officers he didn't want to talk about it. He was asked if there had been an argument, and if he had stabbed Ms Brown in the back, but couldn't remember and said "I can't tell you nothing about that".

He was asked by officers if that was because he didn't want to, it's difficult or because he couldn't remember, when he said "it's both".

Knight was shown a picture of the knife, and asked why he picked it up, when he said "maybe because I was drunk, I wish I hadn't but I did".

"I don't know, I didn't mean to harm anyone, like I've been with this woman for f--king that long and I love her man ... and I smack her over the years but you know ... not that bad ... it's only a push or a smack or something like that. I don't know how this happened," he said during the interview.

Court documents said Knight suggested there had been arguments over money, how it was spent, and alleged Ms Brown had a gambling problem and wasted money rather than on for food for the family.

A post mortem examination on March 17, 2021 revealed the cause of death was a stab wound to the right side of Ms Brown's back.

No blood sample was taken from Knight on the night of the murder, and his precise level of intoxication at the time of the stabbing remains unknown.

Expert pharmacological reports were obtained by both the defence and the prosecution, who could not agree about his blood alcohol concentration at the time of the offence, however agreed based on Knight's history of drinking on March 12, he would have consumed equivalent to 22 standard drinks prior to the stabbing.

They also agreed his level of intoxication would have made Knight "unable to think clearly and make rational decisions" or "unaware of the severity of his actions" at the time of the stabbing.

On Friday, Justice Helen Wilson convicted Knight of murder and listed his sentence hearing for March 30 in Bourke.