Firefighters were directing water at the Hotel Grand Chancellor’s upper façade.

A man who stabbed his defenceless wife to death and then called emergency services has pleaded guilty to murder.

Father-of-four Jessie James Tumaliuan, 42, accepted a sentence indication of 20 years as he pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court this morning.

His wife, Czarina Tumaliuan, was found stabbed to death in the back yard of a Werribee home in Melbourne's west on March 27.

READ MORE: 'Worst possible outcome': Grave fears for boy mauled by shark

Tumaliuan's barrister Chris Hooper previously told the court the couple had been separated before the murder but his client was continuing to attend their home.

On the day of the killing, Tumaliuan used a key to enter the home intending to confront his wife verbally about money, Hooper said on Friday.

CCTV footage captured some of the murder, including Ms Tumaliuan's screams as she ran into the back yard, but 10 seconds later the video went quiet.

Hooper said his client accepted the woman was unarmed, while he had equipped himself with a knife.

"No fault is laid at her feet at all," he said.

"She was defenceless and there were multiple stab wounds."

But he said Tumaliuan had not visited the house with murderous intent as he was initially unarmed.

READ MORE: 'Saw it shake the board': Shark survivor recounts moment of attack

"Circumstances occurred off-camera … where his intention was not to kill, but to cause really serious injury, that's his position," Hooper said.

Tumaliuan called triple zero for assistance three times, the court was told.

Prosecutor Nadia Kaddeche said an assault occurred inside the home before the victim ran outside and she could be heard saying she had been hurt.

"There is no desisting from when she goes outside and it (the assault) continues not on camera, around the side of the house," Kaddeche said.

Justice Amanda Fox indicated to Tumaliuan she would sentence him to up to 26 years behind bars if he pleaded guilty to murder.

READ MORE: Father pays tribute to 'beautiful daughter' found dead and mauled by dingoes

He would have to serve 20 years of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole, she said.

Tumaliuan's sentence will be formally decided following pre-sentence hearings later in the year.

He appeared distressed after hearing the sentence and refused to stand as Justice Fox exited the courtroom on Friday.

However, after discussing the matter with his lawyer, Tumaliuan accepted the sentence indication as he pleaded guilty to one count of murder today.

"Guilty your honour," he said, as he stood in the court dock.

Tumaliuan's trial, which was set to begin in early February, was vacated.

He was taken back to prison and will return to court on March 13 for a pre-sentence hearing.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Deputy Victorian Premier Ben Carroll has again reminded Victorians to save Triple Zero calls for emergencies after the emergency call and dispatch service failed to meet a key benchmark.

Triple Zero Victoria (TZV) aims to 'action' ambulance dispatches for a Code 1 emergency within 2.5 minutes at least 90 per cent of the time.

But the service only achieved this for 80 per cent of the most urgent emergencies in the 2024-2025 period.

READ MORE: Trump threatens to seize Greenland, Canada, Venezuela and Cuba in Truth Social images

TZV has pointed out "longstanding structural issues" with the methodology behind the performance and said the target has not been reached since 2010.

The call-and-dispatch service received more than three million calls last year, an average of 8500 each day.

Deputy Premier Ben Carroll came to the defense of the agency and urged Victorians be considerate when calling Triple Zero.

"Sadly there are way too many calls that are nuisance calls, that are unwarranted calls," Carroll said.

"We've all got a role to play in making sure that we do not do any unwarranted calls or even worse, nuisance calls to Triple Zero that tie up resources and simply waste taxpayers funds."

In February 2025, TZV received almost 500 nuisance calls in a 24-hour period, according to the annual report.

READ MORE: 'The miracle': 6-year-old girl is the sole survivor of a family that perished in Spanish train wreck

"When you look at more than three million calls a year, you see the workload of Triple Zero, They do an outstanding job. That's why they've had more funding, more resources and more staffing," Carroll said.

"We're continuing to make sure they're fully staffed, we're doing everything we can to make sure they're responding, and they are, but we've all got a role to play in making sure Triple Zero is there for emergencies."

TZV cited a constrained Ambulance fleet and operational capacity as part of the reason it failed to meet the target, according to the annual report.

The report also said performance data was skewed due to cases where patients who were initially triaged as lower-priority were escalated to Code 1.

In December 2024, a record-breaking 95,374 calls were made to TZV.

"The most consistent demand driver is Victoria's growing and ageing population; the over 80s age group account for more than 20 per cent of ambulance activity," the annual report read.

READ MORE: Millions of Australians starting 2026 with money trouble, survey says

The release of the annual report comes as healthcare workers across the state remain embroiled in a bitter pay dispute with the government.

More than 10,000 workers from more than 80 healthcare services walked off the job yesterday in a Health Worker's Union-led strike that caused thousands of elective surgeries to be cancelled.

Workers are seeking a six per cent wage increase in a dispute Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas today said the government was "really focused on resolving".

"I have met with the union, we're working hard right now to resolve the dispute," Thomas said.

"I look forward to us being able to do that and getting in place a fair EBA for the hard-working members of the HWU."

The union has rejected two wage offers from the government since August 2024, which it claimed were both "below-inflation" increases.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

A young woman has allegedly been stabbed by a man she knew, who waited outside her Melbourne home.

As police were calling for the man to hand himself in, his body was then found in the state's far west.

Police said the 18-year-old woman was dropped home to Miller Grove in Kew at 1am today after an evening with friends and was immediately attacked by an 18-year-old man from nearby Camberwell.

READ MORE: Police investigating if driver error to blame for train crash that killed two

READ MORE: Surfer's chilling warning before Manly attack

Victoria Police superintendent Wayne Cheesman said the man had waited outside in the dark.

"He approaches her in her driveway as she's about to enter the family home, and he stabs her multiple times," Cheesman alleged.

"Just a young girl who was minding her own business walking home in the safety of her own driveway."

Police said the attacker fled the scene.

The woman was taken to hospital with what police initially feared were life-threatening injuries.

She is now in a serious condition and recovering in hospital.

Her neighbours in the close-knit street were shaken and scared for the girl who is from a "very lovely family".

"I just heard like a cry out for help," a witness said.

9News understands it was another young woman who reported the attack to police.

Despite searches in the area early this morning, the young man could not be found.

However at the same time as officers were combing the scene, police responded to a Triple Zero call in Victoria's west.

Officers said they found the man's body about 360 kilometres away at Antwerp, near the SA border. 

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

Lifeline 13 11 14

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Millions of dollars are up for grabs tonight.

The 37-year-old barrister was pulled from the water at Hāhei Beach on Monday.

About 120,000 Manage My Health users may have had data accessed.

The victim was taken to hospital in a serious condition after the assault.

Shane Khan’s friend ran and hid in a kebab shop following an argument between the pair.

Part of Falls Rd is closed with emergency services in attendance.