Ljube Velevski granted bail after failing to report to police following prison release

This the first time Ljube Velevski has been seen since he spent 25 years in jail for the murders of his wife and three kids. He has been granted bail after failing to report to police as part of his obligations under the Child Protection Register.

This is the face of evil that’s been hidden from public view for 25 years.

The face of a man who slashed the throats of his wife and three children, then offered police his own concocted theory on who had murdered his family — that the mother of his children must have slaughtered her own babies then turned the knife on herself.

But a coroner found Snezana Velevski could not have cut her own throat so cleanly.

And there were no signs of a struggle in their Berkeley home that winter’s day in 1994, leading investigators to believe she must have known her killer.

And so began the prosecution, conviction and jailing of Ljube Velevski on four counts of murder.

Convicted killer Ljube Velevski leaves Wollongong police station on Saturday. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Sentenced to a minimum 19 years jail — and six times knocking back the chance to fight for freedom — Velevski was released last week from Junee Correctional facility having served the maximum 25 years.

Eight days later police issued a warrant for his arrest after he allegedly failed to report to police within seven days of his release — part of his obligations under the Child Protection Register, which is responsible for monitoring offenders who commit sexual or violent offences against children. A family member alerted Velevski to a news story about the warrant, and he rushed to Oak Flats Police station where he was placed under arrest at 7.20pm on Friday night.

The grave of Snezana, Zaklina, Daniela and Dijana at Wollongong Lawn Cemetery. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

On Saturday in Wollongong Local Court, the registrar decided Velevki’s breach was not indicative of someone deliberately flouting the law.

And so he was released again, this time in front of waiting photographers who captured the first image of the killer in more than 20 years.

After court the 57-year-old, dressed in a black Adidas tracksuit, and brand new white Asic joggers, sat in Wollongong Police station foyer calmly waiting for his paperwork, all the while, ignoring the journalists and photographers just outside the station front doors.

“Are you a danger to the community?” one reporter asked, but Velevski did not respond, his eyes stayed fixed on the bag of belongings in his hands.

Ljube Velevski and his wife Snezana at the christening of their eldest daughter Zaklina, who was six when she was killed.

Fourteen-week-old twins Daniela and Dijana.

Several hours later, around 3.30pm, Valevski walked out of the station, and fumbled with a mobile phone in his hands before making a phone call as reporters and photographers swooped.

He loudly spoke on the phone, acting as if he was completely unaware of the media frenzy surrounding him.

Velevski walked around around the corner to a waiting car, which took off as he buckled his seat belt.

Police who investigated the family killings all those years ago that sent shockwaves through the community remember a timid, placid man who never had much to say.

Velevski sits in Wollongong Police station waiting for his paperwork to be processed on Saturday.

“If you spoke to him, you wouldn’t think he had this in him,” one recalled.

Mrs Velevski, 25, was found face down on the floor. Beneath her were the slaughtered bodies of Zaklina, 6 and twin babies Daniela and Dijana.

Their throats had been slashed and a knife stashed under the bed. Scientific police searched the Castle Court home, dismantling fixtures and removing furniture in a bid to shed light on the killings.

Neighbours told journalists back then the Velevskis were a friendly family, who mainly kept to themselves.

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