By Tara Cosoleto
Phillip Crossthwaite was the one to discover his daughter’s lifeless body after she had been shot dead in her own home.
Nearly two decades later, he is relieved Cindy Crossthwaite’s estranged husband, Emil “Bill” Petrov, has finally been sentenced to 26 years behind bars for her murder.
Phillip Crossthwaite, father of victim Cindy Crossthwaite, speaks to media outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning.Credit: AAP
“Justice has been done, and now we can finally get on with our lives again,” Crossthwaite told reporters outside the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday.
“It’s been so hard knowing that he was guilty from the time I found her body ... knowing that he could walk around and live a normal lifestyle while we have been suffering.”
A jury in December found 61-year-old Petrov guilty of murdering Crossthwaite, who was 41 at the time, inside her Melton South home in June 2007. However, he maintains that he did not kill her.
Jurors believed the prosecution’s case that either he fired the fatal shot or enlisted another person to do so as part of a joint criminal enterprise.
In sentencing, Justice Christopher Beale said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Petrov was the perpetrator. But the judge said he believed Petrov provided the gun to another person to carry out the killing.
“At the very least, you were a party to the premeditated execution of your estranged wife,” Beale said.
Following their separation in 2005, Petrov and Crossthwaite had been going through Family Court proceedings over property at the time of her death.
Their court case was adjourned to July 2007, and prosecutors argued Petrov was aware his financial interests would be adversely affected when the proceedings resumed.
On the morning of June 21, Crossthwaite took her two older children to primary school before returning to her Melton South home.
Emil Petrov outside the Supreme Court in November.Credit: AAP
Her friend tried to contact her multiple times that day and even went to the property but received no answer.
Phillip Crossthwaite instead went to his daughter’s home about 4pm and let himself inside to find her lifeless body, half-covered with a blanket, on the lounge room floor.
She had been choked and shot in the head from close range, while her 13-month-old baby, Jonas, was found alive in a bedroom a few metres away.
Petrov was arrested the next day but he told police he had an alibi and was released without charge. It was another 12 years before he was arrested again and charged with Crossthwaite’s murder.
Cindy Crossthwaite was 41 when she was murdered.
Central to the prosecution’s case was witness Brian O’Shea, who avoided a murder charge by testifying against Petrov about providing him with a gun for $3000.
O’Shea claimed that in the months before the murder, Petrov said he would kill Crossthwaite and showed him a black wig and dark-coloured clothing inside his car boot.
Justice Beale noted Petrov maintained his innocence and the case was not the worst example of murder, but it was aggravated by legal dispute.
The now-convicted killer had been on bail before the verdict, and the judge accepted he had not committed any further crimes while out in the community.
Beale found Petrov had good prospects of rehabilitation as he jailed him for 26 years, with a non-parole period of 20 years.
The 61-year-old looked straight ahead as the sentence was read out, while members of Crossthwaite’s family hugged and gasped “yes”.
Cindy Crossthwaite’s daughter, Jesmine Crossthwaite, outside court in 2019.Credit: Jason South
Outside court, Crossthwaite’s daughter, Jesmine, said she had dreamt of this moment.
“He’s in there for good now, pretty much the rest of his life,” she said.
“But it’s still not enough – for the last 20 years nearly, we’ve suffered quite immensely.”
Crossthwaite’s son, Jonas, whom she had with her partner Daniel Hinds, said there was a sense of relief the ordeal was over.
“But I’m still without my mum, so nothing’s going to help me with that,” he said.
AAP
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