A Yemeni man accused of stabbing his wife to death in Gordon signed a "peace agreement" brokered by senior members of the Arabic community in a bid to reconcile the estranged couple in the lead-up to the fatal attack, a jury has heard.
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Maged Mohommed Ahmed Al-Harazi, 36, was charged with murder after the body of Sabah Al-Mdwali, 28, was found on a bed inside the couple's Knoke Avenue house in 2015.
Prosecutors allege Al-Harazi stabbed his wife 57 times as she fed their 10-month-old baby in an upstairs bedroom after an argument lasting several hours the night of March 16.
Al-Harazi pleaded not guilty and is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
The trial heard on its first day that the couple had a turbulent relationship and the question of returning to Yemen was a source of ongoing tension in their marriage.
Al-Harazi was unhappy and desperate to return home, while Ms Al-Mdwali wanted the couple and their three young children to remain in Australia.
The court on Tuesday heard evidence from several members of the ACT's Arabic community who helped draw up an agreement between al-Harazi and his father-in-law, Mohammed Al-Mdwali, weeks before the killing.
Ms al-Mdwali had moved back into her parent's house after Al-Harazi allegedly lost his temper and damaged furniture at their house.
Jurors were shown a copy of the agreement, written in Arabic, which outlined three terms Al-Harazi was to agree to if Mr Al-Mdwali was to let his daughter and the couple's children return home.
Those terms were that Al-Harazi would buy new furniture for the house, return jewellery he had taken from his wife and would not shout at her or cause more trouble.
One witness said a group of elders had read and signed the agreement, which was also signed by the accused and Mr Al-Mdwali, in early February.
"We were trying to make things work and it's a family, that's what we were thinking," he said.
"When we said, what can we do? How can we help? [Mr Al-Mdwali] requested these things.
"Maged's response was that he doesn't want to buy the furniture. He just refused to do that."
Another of the elders broke down in court as he recalled the attempts community members made to reconcile the couple.
Ms Al-Mdwali returned home soon after the men signed the document, the court was told.
Al-Harazi's six-week trial continues before Justice Richard Refshauge on Thursday.
