Kevin Marshall had been on the run for several months after cutting off his ankle monitoring bracelet and when he approached his ex-partner’s home in Papakura, determined to stop her giving evidence against him at his upcoming trial for assaulting the woman.  

What followed was a harrowing attack with a hunting knife where he cut open her head, neck and nose and threatened to decapitate her.  

But she fought back, managing to escape the frenzied assault.  

She has survived to see him admit the crimes he wanted to silence her speaking about to avoid the prison term he faces when he is sentenced for attempted murder in September. 

The 44-year-old labourer had been on electronically monitored bail in Tuakau while awaiting trial on charges that he punched the woman in the eye and possessed a machete that he threatened to cut her throat with in September 2022. 

At the time the pair had been separated for three months after a relationship lasting less than a year. 

He absconded from electronically monitored bail in December last year and spent the better part of four months on the run before arriving at the woman’s home in Papakura on March 27. 

She was asleep on the couch and awoke to find Marshall standing over her. 

Court documents reveal what happened next. They were released to the Herald after Marshall pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of attempted murder, possession of an offensive weapon and assaulting the woman, 

Kevin Nicholas Marshall, of Tuakau, during his appearance before Justice Matthew Downs on Wednesday. Photo / Jason Oxenham 

His jury trial for the September 22 assault he admitted this week was set to start on July 8. 

When the woman awoke to find Marshall standing above her, an argument began about the upcoming trial. 

According to the police summary of facts, Marshall wanted the woman to recant her allegations because he did not want to go to prison. 

She refused. 

He pulled her off the couch and on to the floor before arming himself with a large hunting knife from atop the woman’s fridge. 

“The defendant began stabbing the victim to the head and neck in a frenzy,” the summary of facts says. 

She crawled into the foetal position to protect herself but Marshall continued to attack her. 

He told he was going to cut her head off to stop her going to court. 

Fearing for her life, the woman fought back and escaped to raise the alarm. 

“She would later tell Police that, in making her escape, she considered she may have been aided by the defendant slipping in all the blood that had resulted from her wounds,” the police summary says. 

Marshall had fled the scene by the time police arrived at the woman’s Papakura home. 

He was not apprehended until two weeks later, on April 11. 

Police arrived to find clumps of the victim’s hair Marshall had torn out, inside and outside the house. 

She was rushed to hospital in a serious condition and was immediately operated upon before undergoing further surgeries during 11 days in hospital. 

Her catalogue of injuries included a gaping wound across the crown of her head requiring 12 staples, another wound on her head needing eight staples and an injury on the back of her neck requiring five staples to close. 

She also suffered wounds to her hand, a prominent injury across her nose and cuts to her back and arms. 

The woman continues to suffer the effects of the attack, court documents state. Her face is scarred, there are neck mobility issues and she endures headaches and dizziness. 

She has also been diagnosed with vertigo related to the assault and suffers significant short-term memory loss. 

On Wednesday when Marshall appeared in the Auckland High Court to enter guilty pleas, Justice Matthew Downs set a sentencing date of September 24. 

He faces up to 14 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, a maximum penalty of three years for possessing the machete and two years for the charge of male assaults female stemming from the September 2022 punch.