The forgotten ADVO in Wubanchi Asfaw's tragic story
The reporting began with concerns raised by Wubanchi’s family and members of Sydney’s Ethiopian community, who said she had previously sought help, reported threats and told community elders that she feared her husband.
Through interviews with relatives, friends and the detective who investigated the killing, the story examined how that history had been handled. When the detective initially told SBS he did not believe an AVO had existed, further questioning prompted him to check police records during the interview.
This investigation revisited the killing of 25-year-old Wubanchi Asefaw by her husband, Solomon Hailu Jenbare, and examined what the criminal proceedings had failed to capture about the history of domestic violence preceding her death. Jenbare was convicted of manslaughter after a jury accepted that his capacity for self-control was substantially impaired, and was sentenced to nine years in prison with a seven-year non-parole period. The sentencing proceeded on evidence that described no significant prior history of violence and referred to Jenbare’s previous good character. But SBS subsequently uncovered a critical piece of information that had not formed part of that picture: Wubanchi had previously taken out an apprehended violence order against her husband.
SBS story
He found that there had, in fact, been one, but said it had expired four years earlier. The investigation raised questions about why this history had apparently not informed the account of Jenbare’s prior character presented during the criminal proceedings.
The story also examined a broader failure of access to justice. Wubanchi’s mother and brother had travelled from Ethiopia with limited English and little understanding of the Australian legal system. At sentencing, no interpreter had initially been arranged for them, while an interpreter had been provided for the accused. Their inability to understand the proceedings -or how to seek legal assistance, question the investigation or understand why the sentence was not appealed- became part of the story itself. Their experience illustrated how language barriers and unfamiliarity with Australian institutions can leave migrant families particularly disadvantaged when attempting to navigate the aftermath of domestic violence and homicide.
At the centre of the reporting was also the person who had witnessed Wubanchi’s killing: her daughter, then seven years old. After extensive consideration of her welfare and the public-interest issues involved, SBS interviewed her four years later, when she was 12, but did not broadcast the video. With her father approaching eligibility for release, she described what she remembered of the killing, her fear that he might return and her wish to remain with her grandmother and uncle. By bringing together the previously overlooked AVO, the police investigation, the sentencing evidence, the family’s experience of the justice system and the child’s account, the investigation asked how crucial evidence and voices can disappear from institutional processes.
The investigation was done in collaboration with SBS Amharic Executive Producer, Kassahun Negewo.