In the early hours of May 26, 2023, Tatiana Dokhotaru, 34, called Sydney police from her 22‑story apartment. She begged for help, telling officers that her ex‑boyfriend was “trying to kill me,” and that he was “bashing me.” The line ended before she could give them her floor number.
Police tried to arrive on the scene, but after a three‑minute CCTV clip showing the suspect – Danny Zayat – sprinting away from the building with Dokhotaru’s savings in hand – they couldn’t locate the apartment. They left the block after three hours, unable to locate her exact address or any other useful information.
“They left without having gained access to any part of the building or having acquired any further information about the location of the person who had made the call, or the circumstances,” Justice Desmond Fagan told the court during Zayat’s sentencing.
At that time, Tatiana was already dead. An autopsy later revealed she died of a brain hemorrhage after blunt‑force injuries to her head — a classic sign of strangulation. The exact time of death could not be pinned down, but it fell somewhere between the end of the 911 call and early the next morning, the Supreme Court found amid the trial.
When police finally re‑entered the 22nd‑floor unit more than 20 hours later, they found Zayat standing on the floor with the body of a woman in the living room. Body‑worn footage captured him crying in what prosecutors say were crocodile tears. Police later learned he had returned to the apartment and discovered Dokhotaru’s body on the couch.
Zayat is now serving a minimum of 18 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2043. In his sentencing, Fagan described a disturbing pattern of control, manipulation, and jealousy that culminated in the murder. The judge emphasised that Zayat’s abuse had escalated over the years, starting in 2021, when he first assaulted Tatiana with a punch and a shove in front of her friend.
Tatiana and Zayat had been together for five years, from 2017 until she left him in November 2022. After her separation, she secured a provisional Domestic Violence order (ADVO) in April 2022. When Zayat received the order, he texted her, “I’m going to f–king kill you.” His physical and verbal abuse only intensified thereafter.
Documents from the trial show that Zayat’s jealousy got out of hand after Tatiana started seeing someone new in late 2022 or early 2023. He caught her on his phone while she was in the shower, dragged her by her hair, spat on her, and threatened to kill her if she called the police. He would repeatedly assault her, and even after she told him that her “body is in shock” and he was “spitting in my face … callin’ me a dirty slut,” he kept fighting her.
The court heard that on May 6, 2023, the couple celebrated a birthday together. Two days later, after Tatiana discovered he’d been messaging a female client, she sent him a scolding text: “I almost got strangled for calling someone babe but look at you.” She further warned him to “get help” before it was too late. Zayat replied that he was depressed and “sick of stressing.” He insisted that they “couldn’t be away from each other.” He continued to threaten her and to insist on control over her life.
A week after Tatiana’s plea, Zayat allegedly attacked her so violently she feared her ribs were broken. In a video captured by the couple’s device, he forces her to stand and keeps her down on the floor. Justice Fagan described the footage as “a picture of cowardice and cruelty.” The victim’s spoken words, captured in the clip, were a mix of despair, defeat, and suicidal thoughts.
In an attempt to mislead police, Zayat took photographs of some of Tatiana’s anxiety and allergy medication, pretending that the drug overdose could explain her death. A post‑mortem and toxicology ruling outright dismissed that possibility. Instead, investigators confirmed that the injuries consistent with abuse led to her loss of life.
For years, Zayat had positioned himself as a caretaker and guarded the apartment, warning Tatiana not to disclose her injuries to friends or family. He also said that he “had fallen down the stairs” to his colleagues to hide the truth.
Neighbors reported, on the evening of the murder, loud banging, shouting, and “very obscene abuse in a guttural tone” coming from the 22nd‑floor unit. Police records confirm that Zayat was the one who carried out the homicide.
The case illustrates a prolonged cycle of domestic violence that culminated in Tatiana Dokhotaru’s death. The court’s findings are a stark reminder of how control, jealousy, and unchecked abuse can end in tragedy.
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