Borce Ristevski in court for committal hearing
BORCE Ristevski murdered his wife Karen and dumped her body, then went out Uber driving before having dinner with his parents, a magistrate heard on Monday.
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BORCE Ristevski murdered his wife Karen and dumped her body, then went out Uber driving before having dinner with his parents, a magistrate heard on Monday.
Mr Ristevski’s movements on the day his wife disappeared — and “inconsistencies” in what he had told police — were aired in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, during the first day of a hearing to determine whether he should stand trial for her murder.
The father of two is charged with killing the fashion boutique owner at their Avondale Heights home on the morning of June 29, 2016.
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The court heard Mr Ristevski, 54, claims she walked out of the house to clear her head after a fight about finances and never returned.
But police allege he “incapacitated or murdered” her at the house between 8.58am and 10.43am, and then took her body in the back of a car down the Calder Freeway to Mt Macedon, where he dumped her in a shallow grave.
Prosecutor Matt Fisher said Mr Ristevski had lied to police, changing his story about his movements on that day during up to 12 interactions with investigators.
“(He) deliberately excluded and withheld certain information and fabricated facts to distance himself from the crime,” Mr Fisher said.
“He (also) chose to go Uber driving in the afternoon, despite her disappearance.”
He said Mr Ristevski had told police he couldn’t log in to the ridesharing app, so he returned home after 40 minutes without any fares.
Police suspicions were also raised, Mr Fisher said, when Mr Ristevski was quick to discount a possible sighting of his wife when contacted by detectives on July 1.
Mr Fisher said in one statement to police, Mr Ristevski claimed he last saw his wife leaving through the front door after their row about finances; yet he told another detective she walked out of the garage door. One officer was told they had fought in an upstairs bedroom; another that it was in the downstairs office.
The court heard Mr Ristevski also initially told police he spent the day at home bookkeeping; later, he said he took his wife’s car out to refuel it, as the petrol gauge was broken.
Mr Fisher said that when quizzed about his apparent inconsistencies, Mr Ristevski said he was “tired” and had only given information “he thought was important”.
The couple’s daughter, Sarah, got home at 6pm to be told that her mother had walked out and couldn’t be reached on her phone.
The court heard she told police that her father had been “reluctant” to call authorities to report his wife missing, telling her: “What are we going to tell the police? ‘Mum got upset and walked out?’ ”
The court heard he added that he believed they had to wait 24 hours before reporting a person missing.
The pair then went to dinner at his parents’ home in Maidstone, where they did not discuss the disappearance.
Mr Fisher said an autopsy had been unable to determine the cause of Ms Ristevski’s death, owing to decomposition in the eight months before the body was found.
But he said the couple had been in “serious” financial strife: Ms Ristevski’s Bella Bleu fashion boutique, at Watergardens shopping centre, had run up $326,114 in losses from 2012 to March 2016.
The couple also had racked up $82,000 in credit card debt, on top of a $750,000 mortgage and a redraw loan of $336,000.
“By June 2016, they had almost reached the maximum line of credit,” Mr Fisher said.
Mr Fisher said that CCTV footage obtained at Avondale Heights, Diggers Rest, Toolern Vale and Sunbury showed the route Mr Ristevski is alleged to have taken from his house to where his wife’s body was dumped.
He said that police would also be relying on evidence from mobile phone towers showing that his phone and Ms Ristevski’s phone had “pinged” in the Diggers Rest and Sunbury areas.
Sarah Ristevski is expected to begin giving evidence when the committal hearing resumes on Tuesday morning.
THE RISTEVSKI CASE DETAILS POLICE DON’T WANT MADE PUBLIC
THE committal hearing for Mr Ristevski earlier stalled after a move to stop the publication of police investigation details.
The Office of the Chief Commissioner of Police applied to the court for a suppression order to stop the media from publishing details that could be heard throughout the hearing regarding police methodology.
Astrid Haban-Beer, counsel for the commissioner’s office, argued they wanted the court to be closed when an Optus technician gives evidence on Thursday.
“It’s an issue of what the capabilities of the police are,” Ms Haban-Beer said.
“We say the information is so highly confidential it shouldn’t be disclosed to anyone but the court.”
The Herald Sun is among a contingency of media outlets fighting the gag order.
Magistrate Sue Cameron has adjourned the suppression order application argument until today to allow for the committal proceeding to start.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Ristevski entered court for the first day of a hearing to determine if he should stand trial before a jury.
Mr Ristevski, 54, wearing a black suit jacket over a white collared shirt, was ushered into the dock at Melbourne Magistrates Court by custody officers at 10.23am.
The father of two is charged with murdering his wife, Karen, at their Avondale Heights home in June 2016.
Prosecutor Matt Fisher had earlier indicated they had scheduled four witnesses.
Mr Ristevski’s daughter Sarah is scheduled to give evidence today.
Dozens of witnesses are expected to give evidence in the 10-day hearing.
Mr Ristevski’s son Anthony Rickard, who was arrested by police on Sunday, was also on the witness list.
But Mr Fisher told Magistrate Sue Cameron he may no longer be called.
“Your honour may have seen some movement over the weekend regarding one of the witnesses,” he said.
“If that witness gives evidence, legal advice would need to be given.”
When Ms Cameron asked if there was doubts he would give evidence, Mr Fisher said it was under “consideration”.
“We need to have some discussions,” Mr Fisher said.
Mr Rickard has told the Herald Sun he does not want to give evidence.
Ms Ristevski, 47, went missing from her home in June 2016, with her husband telling police she walked out, saying she needed to clear her head after they fought over finances.
The fashion store owner’s body was found by a bushwalker in a shallow grave in the Macedon Regional Park eight months later.