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Aaron Bunch

Love triangle murder victim dumped in wardrobe

A court has heard a woman's body was dumped inside a child's bedroom. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

A woman and her jealous boyfriend violently murdered her ex-lover and stuffed the body into a wardrobe amid a drug-fuelled love triangle gone wrong, a court has been told.

Hannah Louise Glover, 30, and James Anthony Sorgiovanni, 29, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Tara Marie Morrison, 38, at a Western Australian home in April 2024.

The pair are accused of violently and repeatedly stabbing Ms Morrison in her head, neck, body and hands at their Busselton home, about 220km south of Perth.

"The deceased didn’t have an opportunity to arm herself because it was two against one," prosecutor Michael Cvetkoski told the Western Australian Supreme Court on Wednesday.

"The stabbing was sustained with the intention of ending Tara Morrison's life.”

Police tape
Police found Tara Morrison's blood splattered on the walls, doors and floor of her Busselton home. (Aaron Bunch/AAP PHOTOS)

After the murder, Glover and Sorgiovanni allegedly dumped her partially clothed and bloody body inside a child's bedroom.

She had about 40 wounds, along with grazes and bruising that could indicate she was restrained.

Police found Ms Morrison's blood splattered on the walls, doors and floor after Glover's mother raised the alarm in concern for her granddaughter, who also lived at the home.

Police body-worn camera footage showed her body slumped inside the wardrobe; Sorgiovanni's bloody shoe print was found nearby.

A neighbour later reported hearing a woman screaming.

"The screaming sounded like a woman was in pain and distress ... before it suddenly stopped," Mr Cvetkoski said.

"She was screaming in pain … fighting for her life."

Ms Morrison's bloody palm print was also found on the home's front glass door.

"She was attempting to escape … attempting to get out of that house whilst she was being attacked," Mr Cvetkoski said.

"She had no hope.”

Glover and Sorgiovanni were captured on CCTV fleeing the home on a scooter after they allegedly turned on the gas in the home in a bid to burn it down.

Investigators found a clump of Ms Morrison's hair in the kitchen sink, along with the home's security system, which Glover allegedly tried to destroy in a bid to conceal evidence.

Images on the system showed Glover wearing a blood-stained hoody.

Detectives also found three knives and sheaths allegedly used to stab Ms Morrison.

Glover's palm print and the dead woman's blood were found on some of them.

When Sorgiovanni was arrested, he was allegedly found with a further two knives, one of which had Ms Morrison's blood on it.

The Supreme Court of Western Australia
The Supreme Court of Western Australia has been told a love triangle led to an alleged murder. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

The court heard Glover and Sorgiovanni started their relationship in the months before Ms Morrison was killed.

Before that, Glover was in a sexual relationship with Ms Morrison, Mr Cvetkoski said.

The trio had been using illicit drugs before Ms Morrison was murdered.

Whilst in custody, Glover started a relationship with another woman who was covertly working for the police.

Glover was recorded telling her that Sorgiovanni restrained Ms Morrison and she murdered her by stabbing her, Mr Cvetkoski said.

She also told the woman she killed Ms Morrison because she saw her inject her daughter with drugs.

Glover's lawyer said his client was in the home, but Sorgiovanni did the deed.

Sorgiovanni's defence team claims the opposite.

Lawyer Lisa Boston said her client had taken a drug called GHB or Fantasy and passed out.

He awoke to a “horror show” and Glover in a “frenzied attack with a knife”.

"He wanted to stop Glover; he could not," she said.

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