By Simone Fox Koob
Celeste Manno’s mother has shouted at her daughter’s killer, demanding he look at her while she described the devastating impact of his offending and calling him a “demonic beast”, during an emotional day in court.
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard Luay Sako stalked the 23-year-old online for more than a year before breaking into her home in Melbourne’s outer north as she slept, and stabbing her to death. The hearing also revealed the fear Manno experienced in the months before her death, as she told a work supervisor she thought Sako would kill her as he bombarded her with messages.
Celeste Manno was murdered by an obsessed former co-worker in November 2020.Credit: Facebook
Sako, 39, last year pleaded guilty to murdering Manno in the early hours of November 16, 2020.
Manno’s mother, Aggie Di Mauro, told the court that in the 18 months leading up to the attack, she and her daughter lived in constant fear of what Sako might do. He was relentless, she said, no matter how many times her daughter asked him to stop.
“She didn’t know him. And she didn’t want to know him. He was a co-worker to her, nothing more. He wasn’t a boyfriend, an ex, or a friend. She didn’t provoke or insult him. She had no interest in him and he couldn’t accept that,” Di Mauro said.
“We thought she was safe and sound asleep in her bed. The image of her lifeless body and vacant stare haunts me every day. I desperately tried to bring my baby back and those hopeless attempts at trying to revive her are visions I can’t escape.”
Celeste Manno’s mother, Aggie Di Mauro (centre), outside the Supreme Court on Monday.
Di Mauro said she wanted to end her statement by speaking directly to Sako, who had his head bowed.
“Look up,” she shouted at him. “Look ahead. I’m here. You gutless, gutless wonder. I hate you. And the only other person I hate more than you, is me. You extinguished one of the only two reasons I lived for. She was everything to me. Nothing to you.
Luay Sako has pleaded guilty to murder.
“My sweetie felt safe with me. I thought she was safe with me. But she wasn’t, was she? I couldn’t protect her from you. We had no idea you knew where we lived. The one place we felt safe at was home … You’re such a coward, at least look at me.”
Sako shook his head while she spoke, and then began to violently hit the side of his head with his hand.
“You are a beast. You’re an evil, repulsive, demonic beast,” Di Mauro said.
Manno’s family were in court on Monday for the first day of Sako’s three-day plea hearing, and were supported by more than 50 friends and family, who filled the public gallery.
Earlier in the day, the court heard Sako sent Manno about 140 unsolicited messages, some of which were sexually explicit, in the months before he attacked and killed her.
Just hours before the murder, Manno posted pictures of her and her new boyfriend on Instagram for the first time. Police later found screenshots of these pictures and searches of her boyfriend’s name on Sako’s laptop.
Manno posted a photo of her and her new boyfriend, Chris Ridsdale, to social media hours before she was murdered. Credit: Facebook
Sako has dumped his lawyers twice and is representing himself at the plea hearing, during which Justice Jane Dixon will be told of factors to consider before she sentences Sako.
Prosecutor Patrick Bourke, KC, said Manno worked with Sako at a Serco call centre, where she was a team leader. Due to performance issues, Sako’s employment was terminated in June 2019. While he was leaving the building, he thanked Manno for her kindness and, uninvited, kissed her on the cheek. Manno later told colleagues this made her uncomfortable.
A week later, Sako sent her a message on Instagram, thanking her for the way she had handled his exit from the company and declaring “his love and affection for her”, Bourke said. She replied politely, without inviting further messages, the court heard, but when he did not stop messaging her, she blocked him.
Sako activated a second Instagram account and began to send her more messages. Manno politely asked him multiple times to stop pursuing her, but Sako would create new fake accounts. This continued for a year, and Manno estimated at the time that he tried to contact her 140 times.
This obsession with you...is an addictive and destructive feeling interfering with my ability to concentrate, deal with others, and go about my daily routine.
Luay Sako, in one of about 140 unwanted messages to Celeste Manno
Bourke said that in December 2019, the tone and nature of Sako’s messages changed, and as they contained derogatory, vulgar and sexually explicit remarks, Manno became more worried by the “completely unwanted” messages.
Some of the messages were read to the court.
“I’m sorry but I can’t stop thinking about you,” Sako said in one message. “I have never felt this way about anyone in my life … I’m totally captivated by you … you’re all I think about.
“This obsession with you, which is a crush, is an addictive and destructive feeling interfering with my ability to concentrate, deal with others, and go about my daily routine.
Celeste Manno was sent 140 messages by Luay Sako in the 18 months before he killed her.Credit: Facebook
“To put an end to my suffering, can you be direct with me and just tell me how you feel towards me.”
Manno responded: “Hi Luay, those are really sweet words and I appreciate you saying all of this, I am surprised to read this all as it is new to me. As much as I appreciate it, I only feel a professional way towards you and I wish you all the best towards your new job and journey.”
In another series of messages, Sako said he was “so infatuated … it’s now becoming unhealthy”.
Manno responded: “I would really appreciate if you could stop contacting me as this is making me very uncomfortable.”
Luay Sako is escorted out to the prisoners’ van at the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday.Credit: AAP
Sako replied: “My impression of you has changed. You’re no different to the majority of women. I will remember you and this lesson for all my life and devote every ounce of energy I have to climbing up and proving to the world that I’m somebody. This is my promise to you and final contact to you.”
Despite this, Sako continued sending messages, and Manno, fearing for her safety, met with senior management at her workplace. A safety plan was implemented, with employees accompanying her to her car after each shift.
At one point, the court heard, she told a supervisor: “He is really going to kill me.”
She also went to police with her concerns and was granted an interim personal safety intervention order, which Sako breached by sending her a three-page letter on Instagram.
The court heard that around 3.20am on November 16, 2020, Sako left his Roxburgh Park home and drove to Mernda, scaled the fence at Manno’s home, walked into the backyard and smashed his way through her bedroom window with a hammer.
He attacked her with a kitchen knife. She suffered defensive wounds on her forearms and arms as she tried to protect herself, the prosecutor said. The cause of death was determined as a stab wound to the heart.
Sako then drove to Mernda police station, where he told officers “she’s dead”, provided them with Manno’s address and asked police to shoot him. He was arrested and later charged with murder.
Police searched Sako’s home and found a laptop which contained two photos of Manno and her boyfriend, a Google search of the boyfriend’s name and LinkedIn page, and a search of the pub where they were photographed. A few days later, police found a phone registered to Sako, which Bourke said contained evidence that he was “actively monitoring Manno via Instagram”, and had a screenshot of the photo of Manno and her boyfriend.
On Monday, Sako took issue with a pathologist’s opinion that Manno had been stabbed 23 times, insisting that he only stabbed her twice and the other wounds were from glass.
This objection meant that the prosecution had to call the forensic pathologist to give evidence. Manno’s family cried and consoled each other as graphic descriptions of the young woman’s injuries were described. When Sako began to cross-examine the pathologist, the family walked out of court until he was finished.
During victim impact statements, father Tony Manno spoke of how much his daughter was loved, and how the opportunity to walk her down the aisle and watch her grow into a mother was taken from him.
“My heart will be broken for the rest of my life.”
Brother Alessandro said his sister was his best friend and confidante, and the day she was murdered was the darkest day of his life.
“My family will never recover from this loss.”
The hearing continues on Tuesday.
John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.