{"id":729490,"date":"2026-06-11T11:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729490\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T11:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:06:13","slug":"andrew-mungatopi-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jail-for-stabbing-death-of-tiwi-islands-sistergirl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729490\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Mungatopi sentenced to 10 years in jail for stabbing death of Tiwi Islands sistergirl"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.<\/p>\n

It also contains references to self-harm.<\/p>\n

A 36-year-old man who fatally stabbed his niece through the heart in Darwin’s northern suburbs two years ago has been sentenced to more than 10 years behind bars by the Northern Territory Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

In April a jury found Andrew Mungatopi not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, over the death of 37-year-old Lina, a sistergirl from the Tiwi Islands.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lina died after being stabbed in the chest by Andrew Mungatopi in 2024. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Sistergirl is a term used by some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to describe gender-diverse people who have a female spirit.<\/p>\n

Lina’s family has requested that she be referred to by her first name.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In October 2024, the pair were among friends and family, drinking at an apartment in Malak, when an argument between Lina and Mungatopi’s wife broke out and escalated.<\/p>\n

Mungatopi intervened and slapped Lina, who went outside and began making empty threats of killing him.<\/p>\n

In sentencing Mungatopi, Justice John Burns told the court Mungatopi had not intended to kill or seriously harm his niece when he then said: “I’m going to get a knife and I’m going to stab you.”<\/p>\n

“The Crown submits that I should find that in stabbing the deceased with a large kitchen knife, you were aware that there was a substantial risk that stabbing her would cause her death,” Justice Burns said.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The unit block in Malak where Lina was fatally stabbed on October 8, 2024. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

“If the jury had accepted that these were the facts, it is difficult to see how any verdict, other than guilty of murder, could have been returned by the jury.<\/p>\n

Family of Tiwi Islands sistergirl calls for life sentence for her killer<\/a><\/p>\n

The family of a beloved Tiwi Islands sistergirl has pleaded for the man who killed her to be handed a life sentence, describing more than a year of sleepless nights and grief.<\/p>\n

“The jury’s verdict is best reconciled with the evidence \u2026 that you intended to stab the deceased, but in such a way that did not involve causing death or serious harm.”<\/p>\n

Justice Burns said Lina had been a “loving, caring and supportive person”, including to Mungatopi.<\/p>\n

“She was not a violent person,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Justice John Burns said his sentencing of Andrew Mungatopi accounted for his cooperation with authorities. (ABC News: Che Chorley)<\/p>\n

Character references for Mungatopi provided to the court described a man who had had no relationship with his biological father and was left to the care of a relative, at a young age, by his biological mother.<\/p>\n

Justice Burns noted Mungatopi also had a “significant” history of self-harm, with his first recorded suicide attempt at 14 years old, and three attempts between his 18th and 26th birthdays.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:Suicide Call Back Service<\/a> on 1300 659 467Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN<\/a>\u00a0on 13 92 76Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 224 636Headspace<\/a> on 1800 650 890ReachOut<\/a> at au.reachout.com<\/a>MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 527<\/a><\/p>\n

“It is probable, in my view, that your longstanding pattern of abuse of alcohol is to some degree related to your history,” Justice Burns said.<\/p>\n

Justice Burns sentenced Mungatopi to 10 years and two months in prison, with a six-year non-parole period.<\/p>\n

He said the sentence accounted for his cooperation with authorities during the trial.<\/p>\n

A number of Lina’s family members were present in court for the sentencing.<\/p>\n

As Mungatopi was led out from the dock, one family member said the sentence was “bulls***”, as another called out: “I hope you see [Lina’s] face every night before you go to bed.”<\/p>\n

Mungatopi will be eligible for parole in 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[353160,64,63,44,1098,353163,353162,353157,353156,353158,353159,14301,353161],"class_list":["post-729490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-andrew-mungatopi","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-nt","tag-nt-manslaughter","tag-nt-murder","tag-sistagirl","tag-sistergirl","tag-sistergirl-death","tag-sistergirl-murder-nt","tag-tiwi-islands","tag-tiwi-islands-sistergirl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}