Wife of French tourist stabbed in NT inconsolable after witnessing horrifying ordeal
A French tourist who lost her husband during a stabbing attack at an outback truck stop is reportedly so traumatised by what she witnessed she can barely get through police interviews.
Pande Veleski, 35, was charged last month after 33-year-old Philippe Jegouzo was knifed in the neck in "an unprovoked attack" in front of his wife at a remote roadside rest stop north of Alice Springs.
After the attack, Mr Jegouzo's traumatised wife flagged down another couple in a passing car, who drove her 30 kilometres to the nearest telephone.
According to various reports, she has struggled to relive the horrific ordeal when being interviewed by police with detectives forced to take her statement over multiple sessions.
Her translator Maya Cifali said the woman was inconsolable and took “many” attempts to gather a statement.
“She was trying to talk but she kept breaking down and crying, it was horrible, very horrible,” Ms Cifali told News Corp.
“She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep... it's very traumatising to see your man die in front of your very eyes while you are helpless to do anything.
“She was in a miserable condition.”
Her husband died at the scene.
The couple had only recently arrived in Australia.
NT Police have called the attack "random and obscure".
Mr Veleski, who is from Melbourne, remains under police guard in Alice Springs hospital where he has received treatment for heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Posts on his Facebook page indicated he had suffered mental health issues for some time.
"Here is a man who has suffered long-term mental illness, as I know the family," one person said.
"I can assure people that his poor parents and family are totally distressed about the victim, as well as their own son, who has suffered for many years in a barely adequate mental health system."
Mr Veleski's brother Tony also confirmed the 35-year-old had previously been treated for a mental health condition.
"We're really sorry for the French tourist, and we're sorry for my brother as well," Tony told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Tony said the family did not know he had left the state and thought his brother had travelled to the family's holiday house in Dromana, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
"We were meant to go there today to see him, to spend time with him, me and my son," Tony said.
After the stabbing, Mr Veleski fled the scene in a grey Hyundai which was soon stopped by police at Ti Tree.
It's alleged he then fled into the bush on foot, but was found naked the next morning, while a search of the area uncovered items of clothing believed to be his.
