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.
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