Police say they expect to charge a man who was the subject of an apprehended violence order with murder, after the body of a woman was found in a south-west Sydney apartment in a “very violent scene”.
Emergency services were called to a unit on Knox Street in Belmore on Wednesday morning, where they found a 31-year-old woman dead.
The mother of five is believed to have been killed in the early hours of Wednesday.
Police had been responding to a wellness concern made by a family member and said they had to force their way into the apartment. A crime scene was established and a police investigation launched.
A short time later, at about 8.30am, police attended a home in Campbelltown where a 35-year-old man was arrested.
Supt Sheridan Waldau said police expected the man to be charged with murder.
“He has been taken back to Campbelltown police station, where he is assisting us in our inquiries. We expect that he will be charged with murder later on this afternoon.”
Waldau confirmed that the man was the subject of a current apprehended violence order which was supposed to be active until February 2025.
She said he was known to police but there had been “minimal interaction”.
“At this stage there was nothing that Campsie or New South Wales police have failed to do, in any of the matters that we’ve had with him.
“Crime scene are investigating, and it does look like it is a very violent murder scene, and the details of it we’re not quite sure of at this stage.”
Police also confirmed they attended the Belmore home on Monday after the man had a “minor interaction” with a local school teacher.
“But no offence was committed,” Waldau said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said it was too early to speculate but that domestic violence had not been ruled out.
“It’s something that keeps me awake at night, frankly – that women are not always safe,” she said. “Victims of domestic violence are not always safe.”
She said it was imperative that people “come forward”.
“We focus so much time and energy working with our partners, right across government and nongovernment [agencies] to stop domestic violence.
“[But] we can’t arrest our way out of this and we really need people to come forward.”
