A remorseless domestic violence perpetrator, who brazenly confessed his horrific acts to a fellow prisoner, is set to spend many years in prison after strangling his partner and defiling her remains.
Paul Jason Sultana, aged 35, had a tumultuous relationship with 28-year-old Dayna Isaac before he violently ended her life in January 2023 by wrapping two electrical cords around her neck.
When delivering the sentence, NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling emphasized the brutality of the act. “The offender disregarded the victim’s desperate pleas, continuing his merciless assault, which made her final moments excruciating and terrifying,” he stated, adding, “Sheer terror aptly describes her ordeal.”
Sultana received a maximum sentence of 44 years, with a minimum of 33 years to be served before he is eligible for parole.
Following his conviction for murder, Sultana suffered a self-inflicted injury in court, stabbing his left arm, and had to be carried out on a stretcher in September.
Sultana was taken out of court in a stretcher in September after being found guilty of the murder and stabbing himself in the left arm.
Isaac’s murder followed a brief relationship in which Sultana could not accept that she did not want something more long-term.
He took red rope and tape and cycled to her Penrith home in western Sydney, waiting for her to return on the day of the murder.
Once she let him inside, he shoved her into a wall before dragging her to the bedroom area and then strangled her.
Police later found the woman’s body, with her trousers and underwear pulled down.
Forensic testing later revealed Sultana’s DNA on Isaac’s groin area.
Arrested and placed on remand the day after the murder, Sultana later boasted about his crimes to another inmate.
The premeditation, persistent assaults and the degradation of Isaac’s body after the murder were all aggravating factors which increased the prison sentence, Justice Garling said.
Sultana had been convicted over a number of violent offences since 2016 and spent significant stints in prison since that time, the judge noted.
While the 35-year-old had been diagnosed with schizophrenia after his arrest, the court was shown no evidence this contributed to the murder.
Justice Garling called intimate domestic partner violence a scourge in a civilised society.
Sultana’s conduct had to be denounced completely, he said.
“There is simply no place at all in our community for conduct of this kind. It must be marked with significant disapprobation.”
At trial, the 35-year-old denied murdering his partner, saying that he was asleep on the couch and that an unknown third party must have been involved.
Justice Garling rejected this when finding him guilty.
After the murder, Sultana took Isaac’s RAV4 to a remote area of bushland, setting it on fire and destroying it.
Sultana will be eligible for parole in January 2056.
Support is available by calling 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
