Perth mum was granted VRO hours before husband allegedly set her on fire, court told

2 weeks ago 3

A Perth woman was granted a restraining order against her estranged husband just hours before he allegedly doused her in fuel and set her on fire, leaving her with significant burns to her face and arms, a court has heard.

Peter John Moiler, 44, denies any wrongdoing and says his former wife doused herself in a flammable liquid and set herself on fire while sitting in her car outside the family’s Mount Helena home in June 2023. The pair had separated after 11 years of marriage.

Peter Moiler is accused of setting his estranged wife, Kirsten Moiler, on fire outside their Mount Helena home in 2023.

Moiler, who has pleaded not guilty to acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm or prevent arrest, went on trial in Perth District Court on Tuesday, where details of the incident were revealed to the jury.

The court was told the couple, who have three children, were embroiled in drug use on and off during their relationship, which had led to altercations over the years.

A week after 35-year-old Kirsten Moiler left the family home and moved to the nearby suburb of Sawyers Valley, she sought and was granted a violence restraining order at Midland Courthouse to protect her from her husband.

Whether Moiler knew about the restraining order at that time is a matter of contention, but prosecutor Alan Dungey told the court on Tuesday that, two hours later, Kirsten went to the family home to see her son and collect some belongings, parking at the bottom of the property’s driveway.

Dungey alleged that Moiler saw Kirsten’s car and “appeared at the driver’s side window” before spraying her with a flammable liquid from a spray bottle and using a cigarette lighter to ignite it, engulfing her in flames.

A CCTV recording of the incident from a neighbour’s house was played to the jury, in which Kirsten can be heard screaming, “Peter, help me, help me”, with Moiler heard saying: “What the f--- happened? What are you doing?”

Dungey told the jury Kirsten ran from the car while on fire to a nearby creek, peeling off her clothes at the same time, to try and extinguish the flames.

A neighbour called triple zero, Dungey told the court, before Moiler himself called the emergency line 23 minutes later.

Kirsten Moiler arriving at Perth District Court on September 2.

Moiler then got his car and drove past Kirsten’s burning Commodore before driving to the homes of two separate neighbours “to [give] each of them his version of what happened”, Dungey told the jury.

Moiler allegedly told one neighbour “his ex was taking him off the lease and was trying to kill him”, Dungey said.

Kirsten was treated by paramedics at the scene and then airlifted to Fiona Stanley Hospital where she underwent surgery to treat partial and full thickness burns to 38 per cent of her body.

Police found Moiler at his parents’ home having a shower, and he was also treated for superficial burns.

Dungey alleged Moiler went on to tell police and family members that Kirsten had “done this to herself”.

He said Kirsten, who is the prosecution’s first witness in the trial, would give the jury the history of the couple’s turbulent relationship that involved using and selling methamphetamine.

But Moiler’s defence barrister Roisin Keating told the jury the difficulty for them was not the subject matter, but the “context of what led” to the incident.

“What happened was a tragic event because the context of these two people and the nature of the life they share together, leading up to 2nd June, will be critical to your determinations,” she said.

“The issue at the heart of this trial is how the fire that injured Kirsten Moiler was started.”

The trial is due to run for 15 days.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.