Peter Damjanovic jailed for brutal murder of partner Ms Woodley at her Bedford home

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing, and pictures of an Indigenous person who has died.

A man who bludgeoned his partner to death with a towel rail and a shower head in the bathroom of her Perth home has been jailed for more than 20 years.

Peter Damjanovic used his fists, a shower head and a towel rail to bash Ms Woodley (whose first name is withheld at her family's request), causing more than 70 injuries to her head and face.

Justice Natalie Whitby said the attack was "deliberate, persistent, violent and cruel" and sentenced him to life in prison with a minimum of 21 years.

Bathroom attack

Damjanovic, who is now 39, murdered Ms Woodley, 35, in her Bedford home in 2023.

The pair had two children together, who were aged 5 and 6 at the time of their mother's murder, and Ms Woodley also had a 15-year-old daughter.

The court heard he had been drinking and using methamphetamine in the lead up to the assault.

The pair had an argument and he attacked her before forcing her into the bathroom because he wanted her to wash the blood from her face.

In the bathroom, he hit her with a shower head and a towel rail, which had a sharp end, as she was slumped against a wall.

Graphic descriptions of her injuries were read to the court.

The court was told Damjanovic called 000, telling the operator :"She's not breathing, I killed her."

"Please save her, save her."

Repeated domestic violence

Damjanovic's lawyer Simon Freitag said it was a "spontaneous offence, as serious as it was."

Damjanovic had a criminal record and a history of violence against Ms Woodley.

At the time of the murder, he was on bail for assault causing bodily harm, involving another victim.

The 39-year-old's trial was to due be heard by a judge without a jury, because of the confronting nature of the evidence, but Damjanovic pleaded guilty to murder last year.

He had been in protective custody since 2023.

Justice Whitby said Damjanovic "brutally" attacked Ms Woodley in an "extreme form of domestic violence."

Sitting in the dock, Damjanovic showed no reaction as the sentence was handed down.

Judge recuse request

Earlier, Damjanovic's lawyer asked for Justice Natalie Whitby to recuse herself because she was married to Police Minister Reece Whitby who supported the 16 Days In WA campaign raising awareness about domestic violence.

It was an "entirely worthy campaign," Mr Freitag said, but the question was about what a "reasonable observer" would think when the husband of the sentencing judge had been so supportive of the cause.

It was "a matter of perception rather than actual bias," Mr Freitag told the court.

Justice Whitby dismissed the application.

She said there was no evidence her husband had spoken out specifically about the Damjanovic matter.

'Never forgotten'

Speaking outside court, Ms Woodley's mother Meretta Kickett welcomed the sentence.

"Justice was served today," she said.

"We will always suffer her death as a life sentence.

"We love and miss her every day but she will never be forgotten."

Semisha Kickett said she wanted her sister's death to serve as an opportunity for change, so no other family would have to suffer.

"Domestic violence is far too prevalent within our society and an even more common experience for Aboriginal women," she said.

During the sentencing hearing, someone in the public gallery could be heard saying that Damjanovic was a monster.

"He is a monster," Semisha Kickett said outside court.