Accused killer Zoran Pandilovski offers guilty plea to manslaughter of wife Elaine
The estranged husband of Elaine Pandilovski has told a jury he killed the beloved teachers aide – but remains adamant he did not murder her.
Police & Courts
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The estranged husband of a special needs teachers aide has admitted to killing the beloved mum just moments before his murder trial.
But Zoran Pandilovski’s plea of guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter of his wife Elaine, 44, was not accepted by prosecutors, meaning his three week Supreme Court trial will go ahead.
Prosecutor Neill Hutton refused Mr Pandilovski’s plea of guilty to manslaughter on Thursday, telling the court that the Crown maintained he was guilty of the more serious charge of murder.
The Epping man, wearing a purple shirt and black suit jacket, had earlier stood in the dock before the jury pool to enter his plea.
“Not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter,” he said.
A jury was then empanelled, with the murder trial to begin on Friday morning.
Justice Christopher Beale told the jury pool that Mr Pandilovski stood accused of choking his former wife to death in the Mill Park home she shared with their young son Thomas, at about 7.45am on July 14, 2020.
According to a series of alleged facts, he then moved Ms Pandilovski’s body into the basement before driving away from the home at a “fast speed” along the Western Ring Road, and was involved in a car crash.
Meanwhile, the court heard that Ms Pandilovski’s mother, on being alerted by her daughter’s colleague that she never arrived for work at Plenty Parkland Primary School, went to the Mill Park home in search for her.
Letting herself into the property with a spare key, she was unable to find her daughter, at about 3pm.
Later that day, police officers searching the home found the body of the missing mum in a storage room off the basement.
Justice Beale said an autopsy found Ms Pandilovski died from “compression of the neck”.
His Honour told the jury that as they had heard Mr Pandilovski plead guilty to manslaughter, they would be deciding whether his actions were intentional in determining whether he committed murder.
The Pandilovskis were married in 2002 and welcomed their only child Thomas six years later.
They separated in late 2018 and Mr Pandilovski moved out of the family home into a house in Epping.
The trial, before a jury of 14, will begin with opening addresses on Friday.
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