A woman in Adelaide has been formally charged with murder following the suicide of her partner after allegations of verbal and physical assault. Jacinta Ann Drust, 31, of Renown Park, was initially charged with manslaughter in December after a police investigation into the March 2023 death of 51-year-old Antonio Cavaiuolo. On Tuesday, prosecutors upgraded the charge to murder, the most serious offence under South Australian law, which carries a mandatory life sentence with a minimum 20-year non-parole period.

Prosecutors allege that Ms. Drust was recorded on CCTV engaging in abusive and threatening behaviour toward Mr. Cavaiuolo in the weeks leading up to his death. According to court documents, she verbally and physically assaulted him, stabbed a knife into a wall near his head, and told him not to be “a coward” and to kill himself. The incident reportedly preceded Mr. Cavaiuolo’s suicide, which occurred approximately 25 minutes after Ms. Drust left their residence. The manslaughter charge remains as an alternative to the murder charge; while it also carries a maximum life sentence, it does not carry a mandatory non-parole period.

The relationship between Ms. Drust and Mr. Cavaiuolo began in 2022. Prosecutors have described the impact on Mr. Cavaiuolo as severe, noting he lost his job, lost weight, and appeared fearful during their engagement. CCTV footage obtained from inside the home was cited as evidence of Ms. Drust’s “abusive, controlling, and threatening” conduct.

Ms. Drust has denied the allegations, asserting that the only time she ever handled a knife in relation to Mr. Cavaiuolo was to intervene during his suicide attempts. Her legal representative, Andrew Ey, who was recently appointed, requested additional time to gather instructions and sought to modify her home detention bail conditions by removing her mother as a guarantor, citing personal difficulties between them. Magistrate Justin Wickens approved the adjustment and remanded Ms. Drust to appear again in court in August.