Removing tape from her eyes, a woman soon realised that the masked intruder was her estranged husband.
At first it was his movements during the violent home invasion that she recognised.
Then the man claimed he was coming for her family and going to burn her mother's house down - statements the husband had previously said to the woman.
"The jig is up. That’s you. I know it’s you now," the woman said.
He eventually took off his balaclava and offered to take her to a hospital.
The husband was charged with a number of offences after the early morning December 2013 attack.
He was found not guilty following a trial.
However, Queensland's Court of Appeal has upheld a 2022 decision that ruled the husband pay almost $1 million in civil damages to the woman over the ordeal.
The couple had been married for 15 years with two children when they separated in September 2013 after instances of violence and controlling behaviour by the husband, a judgment said.
Months later the woman said her husband threatened her when she dropped off their kids, telling her: "I’ve hired someone to rape and sodomise you".
In the early hours of the next morning she was awoken by a noise after falling asleep on the couch.
She screamed when she saw a man wearing dark clothing and a black balaclava in her dimly lit residence.
He ran to her, pinning her to the couch and during a struggle she hit her head on the tiled floor.
At one stage he bound her hands and put tape over her mouth and eyes, holding her nose making it difficult for her to breath.
"During this struggle the plaintiff saw that the man had an erection," the judgment said.
The woman said she heard him say: "F***ing get down, bitch. Stay down, bitch".
The woman was able to free herself and remove the tape from her eyes before taking off the intruder's mask - only to find the man was wearing another balaclava, made of lycra, underneath.
"The plaintiff soon recognised the movements of her estranged husband," the judgment said.
The woman said his identity was confirmed when he made statements which matched what he had previously told her including claims that her family was evil.
He let her go to the toilet and had removed the lycra mask when she returned, the woman said.
She said the husband complained about his access to their children, telling her: "We’re gonna call off the lawyers and do things my way".
He brought her a cup of water and ice for her injuries before offering to drive her to hospital which she declined.
The woman was diagnosed with PTSD and sustained a loss of earning capacity after the attack.
Justice Sean Cooper last year ordered the husband pay the woman $967,113 in damages at a civil hearing.
The husband appealed, challenging the finding that he was the assailant as well as the awards made for past and future loss of earning capacity but the decision has been upheld by Court of Appeal judges.
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