A West Arnhem Land man who stabbed his wife through the heart on Darwin's Esplanade three years ago will be eligible for parole in two weeks after pleading guilty to her manslaughter.

The ABC reports Dennis Naroldol was sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Tuesday to four years in prison, with a three-year non-parole period due to end this month after time served since his arrest in 2023.

The court was told the then 56-year-old and his 51-year-old wife — who will not be publicly named without the permission of her family — got into an altercation outside Darwin's DoubleTree Hilton on April 14, the ABC reports.

As the argument escalated, the court heard Naroldol's wife jabbed him with an umbrella as he lay intoxicated in the hotel's driveway before he approached her with a knife he had earlier stashed in his shorts.

Sentencing judge Stephen Southwood said Naroldol then stabbed her once through the chest with "significant" force, piercing her heart.

Justice Southwood said Naroldol "showed no concern for the victim, walking away into the park and lying down".

Naroldol's wife was rushed to hospital but could not be saved and he was arrested later that night.

The ABC reports that in sentencing, Justice Southwood noted Naroldol had a "long history" of committing domestic violence offences against his wife.

The judge also noted Naroldol had chronically abused alcohol for a decade before his wife's death, breached multiple court orders, and had been convicted of assault in 2020.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women suffer from domestic violence in Australia at a significantly higher rate than the general population, sparking the establishment last month of a new national peak body to tackle the scourge.