A man who killed his estranged wife claims he hit her repeatedly with an axe after becoming scared because she was holding a knife and bit his thumb.
Dinush Kurera, 47, appeared calm as he took the stand on Thursday to tell his version of events from the evening he killed Nelomie Perera.
Ms Perera, 43, was found dead in her kitchen surrounded by a pool of blood with 35 separate wounds, prosecutors previously told the jury.
The estranged couple's two children, who were both present for various parts of the killing, have each given evidence to the Victorian Supreme Court trial about what they saw on the evening of their mother's death, December 3, 2022.
Their daughter, 18, alleged she saw Kurera stab her mother using an axe and kitchen knife, before she ran to the neighbours' home for help.
Their 19-year-old son said he saw Kurera repeatedly hit his mother with an axe near the couch and that his father hit him with the axe as he tried to flee.
Kurera was arrested at the family's Sandhurst home in Melbourne's southeast shortly after the killing and was assessed by paramedics but had no injuries.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder and denies ever harming his son, as he is also charged with the teen's assault.
Kurera claims he killed Ms Perera in an act of self-defence after she grabbed a kitchen knife following a heated argument in their lounge room.
"I was scared she was going to attack me," he told the jury on Thursday.
He said he hit Ms Perera with the axe after she would not "let go" of the knife and then bit his hand.
"She bit my left thumb," he said.
"I grabbed the hatchet ... because I've been telling her to let go of the knife and she didn't let go, now she tried to bite my hand, I just grabbed it because I was scared."
Kurera said he only remembered hitting her "a couple of times" with the hatchet and then he ran to the toilet "because seeing the blood it made me really sick".
He denied claims from his two children that when he entered the home he threatened to pour petrol and light it, killing them all, if they tried to run away.
Kurera admitted he purchased a hatchet, crowbar, jerry can of fuel and a lighter in the hours before the killing.
He said he bought the crowbar to break through the back fence, as he did not want anyone seeing him, and the axe to cut trees near the fence.
He said the petrol was to fill up his motorbike and the lighter was purchased because he planned to smoke cannabis he had stashed away.
"I don't smoke cigarettes, but I do smoke non-cigarettes," Kurera said.
"I had some weed hiding inside the garage when I went to Sri Lanka, the bike was in the garage so I was going to get the weed in there and smoke it."
Kurera claimed he went over to the family home that evening to see his children and pick up some medication.
The trial continues.
