Former partner of Tatiana Dokhotaru charged with murder in Sydney

The former partner of Tatiana Dokhotaru has been charged with murder three months after she was found dead in her apartment in Sydney’s south-west.

Dokhotaru, 34, who grew up in Canada, was found dead in Liverpool on the evening of Saturday 27 May.

Her partner, Danny Zayat, was found with her body and was later charged with 22 domestic violence-related offences.

On Monday Zayat was arrested in St Clair and charged with murder. The 28-year-old was refused bail ahead of a court appearance in Penrith.

A court heard in July that the pair were in a relationship for five years but in May 2022 Dokhotaru took out an apprehended violence order against him.

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On 26 May this year Dokhotaru rang triple-zero, but police were unable to locate which apartment in the Liverpool apartment tower the call was coming from, the court was told.

“He’s bashing me,” she allegedly told the operator during the call.

Police allege the call ended abruptly when Dokhotaru’s phone was hurled out of the apartment window.

Investigators previously appealed for public help in recovering the device.

Zayat’s lawyer previously described the couple’s relationship as turbulent and toxic, but he said his client had been heard running through the hallway of the Liverpool block shouting “help me” around the time of Dokhotaru’s death.

He also called triple-zero and police observed him in extreme distress when they arrived at the scene, the supreme court heard last month.

A separate internal police investigation is looking into all other circumstances surrounding the triple-zero call and subsequent death of Dokhotaru.

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