Man jailed for decades for murdering Sydney mother inside her apartment

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A man has been jailed for more than four decades for murdering 28-year-old Dayna Isaac inside her apartment in Sydney’s west, with a judge describing the terror she would have felt in her final moments.

Described as an “amazing mother” and “life of the party”, Isaac was killed by 35-year-old Paul Jason Sultana inside her Penrith unit three years ago. He murdered her out of rage that she did not want to be with him, fled in her car and took his mother to the crime scene.

Dayna Isaac wasd murdered by Paul Sultana.

At the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, following a judge-alone trial, Justice Peter Garling sentenced Sultana to 44 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 33 years.

“Intimate partner violence is a scourge on civilised society. The offender’s conduct is to be denounced completely,” Garling said.

“[Sultana] displayed significant jealousy and controlling behaviours in the week leading up to the murder.”

The Crown had argued for a life sentence without parole.

When the judge delivered his guilty verdict in September, dramatic court scenes unfolded as Sultana stabbed himself in his arm with a sharp object inside the courtroom. He was taken to hospital.

Damage to a wall found inside Dayna Isaac’s Penrith home, following her murder.

Sultana met Isaac through his brother in 2018. The pair formed a friendship, which developed into an intimate relationship in 2022.

At the time of the murder, Garling said, their relationship was as “at a developmental stage” with “a varying level of commitment”. Tension brewed as Isaac refused to agree “a fuller, more settled relationship”.

“He was intent on taking her life… her last minutes are ones in which she must have been terrified”.

Isaac’s father Garry English testified that his daughter repeatedly told him she wanted to be friends, and had expressed frustration the day before her death that he was moving his belongings into her apartment, despite not having a key.

On the morning of January 16, 2023, Isaac had completed a trial for a potential new job, when Sultana cycled to her apartment with rope and tape, and forced his way in.

A neighbour later heard an argument from inside the unit, including a man yelling “don’t” and “stop”, loud thuds and a woman crying out. The neighbour described it as “one of the worst screams” she’d ever heard.

Sultana brutally bashed and fatally strangled the mother of two young children, as she pleaded with him to stop, Garling said.

“He was intent on taking her life … her last minutes are ones in which she must have been terrified.”

His DNA was later found on her clothes, her body and a cord wrapped around her neck.

The neighbour witnessed Sultana flee in Isaac’s car. His mother, Janet Tsiliris, later told police he had called her and said: “It’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad.”

Dayna Isaac’s burnt-out car was found in bushland near her Penrith apartment.

He drove his mother to the murder scene. She said she saw Isaac covered in blood and ran out, screaming, “Oh my God, what have you done? You can’t fix this. I can’t be here.”

Sultana set Isaac’s car alight in bushland and burnt his clothes inside a metal drum. He was arrested after his mother reported him to police. He has been in custody since.

A fellow inmate of Sultana testified he had made admissions while in custody on remand, telling him Sultana forced his way into the house and violently assaulted Isaac.

The defence argued an unknown person murdered Isaac while Sultana was asleep in her unit.

While a doctor suggested that Sultana suffered from schizophrenia, Garling noted this opinion was given after the murder.

The judge could not determine whether he was mentally ill at the time or whether any potential illness contributed to his behaviour, but found he was “likely to have been affected by enduring impairment in decision-making and emotional regulation”.

He said victim impact statements outlined the significant harm and distress caused by Isaac’s death.

As Garling delivered the sentence, he said to the court officers, “Take the prisoner away.”

Sultana, who had shown no regret or remorse, will be eligible for parole in January 2056.