Karen Ristevski murder case: Stepson backs Borce’s claims over car’s broken fuel gauge

EXCLUSIVE: THE stepson of Karen Ristevski has backed a key claim about his father’s movements on the day the murdered woman vanished — revealing the fuel gauge on her car was broken for years.

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KAREN Ristevski’s stepson has backed his father’s claims that the murdered woman’s car had a faulty fuel gauge — but has cast fresh doubt about whether it could have somehow corrected itself.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald Sun, Anthony Rickard revealed the fault — central to Borce Ristevski’s explanation of his movements on the day his wife disappeared — existed two years beforehand.

It’s the latest twist in the 15-month murder mystery.

Mr Ristevski had claimed he was on a drive along the Calder Freeway to test the gauge when it suddenly corrected itself on June 29 last year.

Mr Rickard, in an exclusive interview, said his “tight arse” dad took the Mercedes-Benz coupe to an auto electrician but never got the gauge fixed because it was too expensive — instead telling his wife to keep the car topped up with fuel.

NEW TWIST: RISTEVSKI MECHANIC: I WAS WRONG ON FUEL FAULT

READ MORE: VILE RUMOURS LEAVE KAREN RISTEVSKI’S FAMILY SHATTERED

Karen Ristevski’s stepson Anthony Rickard. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Karen Ristevski

Borce Ristevski. Picture: Supplied

Mr Rickard raised doubt the gauge could have corrected itself on the Calder Freeway as his dad claimed.

“It couldn’t have been corrected by a bump,” Mr Rickard said.

“The Calder is a smooth road ... there’s not a bump that’s going to be hard enough to some- how fix (the gauge) itself after two or three years of it not working.”

Mr Ristevski has told police his wife left their Avondale Heights home after an argument over money.

He said he drove the Mercedes as far as the Calder Park Raceway before hitting a bump in the road, which caused the fault to correct itself. He then did a U-turn to return home to Avondale Heights, he told police.

In February, Mrs Ristevski’s body was found in a shallow grave, wedged between two logs in bushland at Mt Macedon some 40km up the Calder.

Mr Rickard said he first knew about the car’s fault after speaking with his dad at a family barbecue in 2014.

“My dad told me in a conversation ... that (he) had to take Karen’s car down to the mechanic,” Mr Rickard said.

“He (the mechanic) sent my dad down to Slater Parade to an auto electrician — they said it’s going to cost at least $800 in labour just to get to it.

“My dad, he’s a tight arse ... he told Karen just to keep the car topped up always, don’t let the car go low and we won’t have a problem, we won’t need the fuel gauge.

“He wasn’t going to fork out $800 to $3000 for that, so he left it.”

A black Mercedes-Benz SLK coupe was captured on CCTV.

CCTV captured a black Mercedes-Benz SLK coupe being driven through Diggers Rest, towards Mt Macedon, on the day Mrs Ristevski had last been seen at her Oakley Drive home. Detectives have been unable to verify who was driving the coupe.

Also in late June last year, a black Mercedes was seen in the vicinity of Childers Rd and Mt Macedon Rd, near where Mrs Ristevski’s body was found. Mr Ristevski has admitted to driving the Mercedes on June 29 but denies involvement in his wife’s death.

The Herald Sun reported this month that a Keilor East mechanic who serviced the Mercedes admitted that Mr Ristevski had mentioned the faulty fuel gauge to him, and he had told him to take it to the auto electrician.

Mr Rickard said he had a strained relationship with his dad, made worse more than a decade ago following a family conflict over accusations of an unusual relationship with Mrs Ristevski, his stepmother.

He and his dad had not spoken since his stepmother’s disappearance, he added.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Natalie Webster said: “Missing Persons Squad detectives continue to investigate the death of Karen Ristevski.”

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