Borce Ristevski committed to stand trial for wife Karen’s murder
ACCUSED wife killer Borce Ristevski has maintained his innocence as he was ordered to face a murder trial.
Law & Order
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ACCUSED wife killer Borce Ristevski has maintained his innocence as he was ordered to face a murder trial.
Magistrate Sue Cameron today ruled there was enough evidence to commit Mr Ristevski to stand trial in the Supreme Court for the murder of his wife, Karen, on June 29, 2016.
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BORCE, KAREN’S PHONES ‘DEACTIVATED’ ON DAY SHE WENT MISSING
Ms Cameron asked Mr Ristevski, 54, to stand in the dock as she read him his rights.
When she asked him how he pleaded to the charge, he said: “Not guilty.”
Ms Cameron’s decision comes after an almost two-week hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court where dozens of witnesses gave evidence.
Police allege Mr Ristevski incapacitated his wife at their Avondale Heights home, before dumping her body at Mt Macedon.
Evidence put by prosecutors to the court included:
MOBILE phone records “pinged” both Mr and Mrs Ristevski’s phones along the Calder Fwy before they were disconnected from the network;
CCTV depicting Mrs Ristevski’s black Mercedes travelling on a route from Avondale Heights, through Diggers Rest, the day she disappeared;
DIRE financial situation of the Ristevski’s Bella Bleu fashion store;
SEARCHES on an iPad in the family home in the days after about how to find and delete Google maps tracking history; and
INCONSISTENCIES in Mr Ristevski’s accounts of what happened the day he claims his wife walked out.
Mr Ristevski’s daughter Sarah also took to the stand to defend her dad, telling the court how her parents fought, but that her father was “always the calm one”.
Ms Cameron today dismissed submissions by defence barrister David Hallowes to commit Mr Ristevski on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
She agreed with the prosecution it was a matter to be decided by a jury instead.
Mr Hallowes had argued a jury would not be reasonably open to infer murderous intent.
“If anything the evidence suggests this was a relatively spontaneous event,” he said.
“We concede there is enough evidence for the charge of manslaughter.
“In no way is that a concession from Mr Ristevski or me that he was involved at all in Mrs Ristevski’s killing.”
He said there was no evidence of planning, premeditation or Mrs Ristevski’s cause of death with an autopsy returning an inconclusive finding.
But Prosecutor Matt Fisher said: “This isn’t just an accidental killing.”
Ms Cameron said she had taken into consideration Mr Ristevski’s alleged “acts, utterances and omissions” after his wife disappeared, including the concealing of her death and disposal of her body, as well as calls to her phone at a time when he knew she was deceased.
“Given the nature, extent and duration of this, I’m of the view it would be open to a jury, properly instructed, to find that the accused caused the death of Karen Ristevski and at the time had murderous intent,” Ms Cameron said.
He will face the Supreme Court for a directions hearing on Monday.