Advertisement
Australia
This Week in AsiaPeople

Australian academic gets 24 years in prison for stabbing Chinese wife to death

  • Chen Cheng was found lying in a pool of blood after being stabbed multiple times by Adam Brown following a fight over kindergarten arrangements
  • Brown, who married Chen in China in 2017, said his wife had attacked him with a knife. The judge rejected his claim that he was defending himself

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Adam Brown. The Australian academic will be eligible for parole after 17 years. Photo: Facebook/Adam Brown
SCMP’s Asia desk
A court in Australia on Tuesday sentenced an academic to 24 years in prison for stabbing his wife to death in their house during a heated argument over childcare.

Adam Brown, a lecturer in media and gender studies at Deakin University, pleaded guilty last year to the murder of Chen Cheng inside their Melbourne home.

Chen was found lying in a pool of blood after being stabbed with a kitchen knife multiple times following a physical altercation with Brown over their two-year-old son’s kindergarten arrangements.

Brown, who married Chen in China in 2017, claimed his wife spat in his face, hit him around his ears and then attacked him with a knife.
Melbourne’s skyline. Adam Brown pleaded guilty last year to murdering his wife in their Melbourne home. Photo: AFP
Melbourne’s skyline. Adam Brown pleaded guilty last year to murdering his wife in their Melbourne home. Photo: AFP

As the confrontation between the knife-wielding couple escalated in April 2022, the pair moved to the backyard where Brown stabbed her multiple times, including in the neck and chest, prosecutors said.

Neighbours heard the 35-year-old screaming and gathered outside the home until Brown let them in. Their attempts to resuscitate Chen were futile and paramedics later pronounced her dead at the scene.

loading
Advertisement