By Adam Cooper
Borce Ristevski's lawyers are to call for his murder charge to be downgraded to manslaughter if he is committed to stand trial, as the hearing that determines whether he will face a jury over the death of wife Karen draws to a close.
Mr Ristevski's hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court could finish as early as Wednesday, and his defence team is expected to submit there is insufficient evidence that the 54-year-old stand trial for murder.
Karen Ristevski
Prosecutors allege Mr Ristevski murdered his wife of 27 years on June 29, 2016 and then drove her body in her car from their Avondale Heights home to Mount Macedon Regional Park.
Her remains were found in the park in February last year, eight months after her disappearance.
Mr Hallowes told magistrate Suzanne Cameron he would make a submission at the end of the evidence that his client not be committed to stand trial on murder, but "manslaughter is open".
Pathologist Stephen Cordner leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.Credit: AAP
Ms Cameron will commit Mr Ristevski to trial if she finds there is sufficient evidence that could lead to a conviction. He is set to plead not guilty if committed to appear before a jury.
On Tuesday the court heard Ms Ristevski could have died from a head injury even though there was no sign of a skull fracture, or from compression on her neck.
Pathologist Stephen Cordner could not determine her cause of death, and told the court there were no signs of damage to Ms Ristevski's skull, but that part of the hyoid – a bone in the neck – was broken.
"You don't need to fracture the skull in order to die from head injuries," Professor Cordner said. "Death from a head injury is a possibility."
"They're all just possibilities, we just don't know?" defence counsel David Hallowes, SC, asked. "That's right," Professor Cordner replied.
The site where Ms Ristevski's body was found.Credit: Justin McManus
The break to the hyoid could have been caused by blunt force trauma, compression, or when animals interfered with the body.
Ms Ristevski's cousin Lisa Gray said in a statement she went to the Ristevski house in the days after Karen's disappearance. Mr Ristevski was speaking to police when she got there and the next day, she said, he appeared disengaged, even from his daughter Sarah.
"Sarah would often go to him for a hug. I felt like she was supporting him and he was so self-obsessed with him feeling like a victim, he didn't give much back to Sarah or anyone else that could be suffering," Ms Gray said.
One night, someone at the house held up a note that read: "Do not speak out loud as the house is bugged".
"I remember thinking why do we need to do that if Borce has done nothing wrong?" Ms Gray said.
During cross-examination, Ms Gray agreed Mr Ristevski had been annoyed during a phone conversation towards the end of 2016, because Sarah had been upset by comments from another family member. During questioning, defence lawyer Sam Norton said Sarah Ristevski was at one point intercepted at the airport.
The court also heard of another phone call, between Mr Ristevski and Channel Nine reporter Kieran Jones in July 2016, in which the journalist was asked to intervene in A Current Affair report which contained details of the Ristevskis' finances.
Prosecutors say the Ristevskis were under financial pressure at the time of Karen's disappearance, over the struggles of their clothing business, Bella Bleu.
Mr Jones said he asked Mr Ristevski about how the search was going, but "he just wanted to talk more about the financial situation".
Senior Constable Ahmet Cagrier, who filled out the missing person report on June 30, 2016, on Tuesday conceded he might have misinterpreted some of Mr Ristevski's report when the policeman made a statement two months later, because his notes made at the time weren't detailed.
The officer called Mr Ristevski about a possible sighting of his wife on the day she was reported missing, but the husband discounted it as credible.
Senior Constable Cagrier said that in hindsight, it was no surprise Mr Ristevski discounted it, as the person seen was drug-affected, asking for cigarettes, had a bicycle and wore different clothes to those Ms Ristevski had been last seen in.