Eyal Yaffe released on bail despite prosecutors arguing he was a risk to public safety
The man accused of helping to conceal the slain teen’s body in a fridge tried to hide his face from waiting media as his son picked him up from jail.
Police & Courts
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The man accused of disposing of Brunswick teen Isla Bell’s body and destroying key evidence in the case has walked free from prison.
Using his shirt to shield him from media cameras, Eyal Yaffe was released from the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall on Tuesday, 24 hours after a court granted him bail.
Mr Yaffe was driven from the prison by his 28-year-old son Ziv, who will house his father at the Brighton East home he shares with his nurse girlfriend.
Mr Yaffe’s movements will be restricted while in the community.
He has been fitted with a self-funded ankle bracelet and is prohibited from going within 200 metres of several addresses of potential witnesses.
A security alert will be activated if Mr Yaffe tries to leave Melbourne, go near the airport or the witness addresses in Hampton, Caulfield South, Bentleigh East and Mulgrave.
The ankle bracelet also alerts if it’s been tampered with or removed.
Slain teen’s family in tears as man accused of hiding body gets bail
Loved ones of Ms Bell, 19, wept in court as Magistrate Rohan Lawrence decided to release Eyal Yaffe, 57, on bail while facing a charge of assisting Marat Ganiev in the alleged murder of the teen at his St Kilda home on October 7.
Mr Lawrence was unconvinced by prosecutors who argued Mr Yaffe was a risk to public safety, could intimidate prosecution witnesses or fail to surrender into police custody if released.
“In my view, the case against him does not hinge on witnesses but phone records, CCTV and statements to police,” Mr Lawrence said.
“There is no rational reason to believe he could interfere.”
The decision to bail the accused was made by Mr Lawrence despite him finding the alleged offending was “callous” and “repugnant”.
“It is a serious example of the offence and the alleged acts were fundamental in the concealment of the crime which occurred over three weeks,” he said.
If convicted, Mr Yaffe’s prison fate will be determined by that of Mr Ganiev.
Assisting in murder carries a maximum 20 year prison term, but lesser offences such as manslaughter carry a maximum five year prison term.
The court heard Mr Yaffe has a defence prepared and that the evidence against him at this stage “could not be said to be especially strong or overwhelming”.
Police have seized Mr Yaffe’s phone but are yet to forensically analyse its contents.
The phone of Mr Ganiev has been analysed and shows daily contact between he and Mr Yaffe in the time between Ms Bell’s death and the men’s arrest.
Mr Lawrence said despite Mr Yaffe allegedly being arrested in possession of bank cards in other people’s names, he did not believe this meant Mr Yaffe was able to obtain false identification for the purpose of evading police.
He acknowledged that Mr Yaffe did have a flight booked to Bulgaria – a country with no extradition treaty – which was due to depart on November 20, the day before his arrest.
However Mr Lawrence said it was a return flight booked some weeks after his initial arrest and no evidence was put to the court he was planning to flee police.
“I find it hard to see (this flight) as a concerted effort to flee the jurisdiction,” he said.
Mr Lawrence said the prosecution did not put forward a specific person or group of people who may be endangered by his release.
The accused will be electronically monitored and living in Brighton East with his son, who offered a $20,000 surety and employment for his father at his painting business.
Mr Yaffe was ordered to surrender his passport, not attend any points of departure, contact witnesses for the prosecution or associate with the co-accused.
His family was also in court as the decision was handed down.
Police allege Mr Yaffe assisted Mr Ganiev by helping him remove Ms Bell’s body inside a fridge which was stored at various Melbourne addresses before her remains were dumped in the rubbish by an unwitting resident.
It’s alleged he cut short a holiday in Warburton after he received a text by Mr Ganiev on October 8, stating: “Before you leave can you please call me?”
The following evening he was allegedly captured on CCTV delivering a fridge to Mr Ganiev’s apartment and then helping the accused murderer remove a different plastic-wrapped fridge from the property 10 days later.
Mr Yaffe had been under police surveillance prior to his arrest, which occurred one day before he was due to fly to Bulgaria – a county with no extradition treaty with Australia.
Police allege he initially told police in October he knew nothing of Ms Bell’s whereabouts and insisted he had dumped Mr Ganiev’s old fridge on Alma Rd in a pile of rubbish.
However, his story changed following his arrest three weeks later.
The court heard when confronted by evidence about what happened to Ms Bell and the fridge, Mr Yaffe admitted he had lied.
Prior to his arrest, Mr Yaffe was captured on CCTV allegedly disposing of a distinctive brown and black bag believed to belong to Ms Bell.
When questioned about the alleged destruction of evidence, Mr Yaffe told police he threw out the bag “simply because he did not need it”.
The court heard Mr Yaffe is highly connected to criminal figures in Victoria and they feared what would happen if he was released on bail.
During his arrest, he was allegedly found in possession of multiple bank cards and phones under the names of other people, which the court heard led to police fears he could easily assume another identity to evade police.
Police submitted in court he was also a risk to the safety of the community and could potentially intimidate witnesses in the criminal case against him and Mr Ganiev.
Ms Bell’s remains were unknowingly located by a resident in Mulgrave, who found the plastic-wrapped fridge inside his removalist van parked in Mulgrave on November 18.
The man noticed a foul smell, opened the fridge and said a bag which he believed to be animal remains fells out.
He told police he put the bag in the rubbish bin and dumped the fridge on a street corner in Bentleigh East.
Police tracked the bag to a waste depot in Dandenong and subsequently arrested the two men.
Mr Ganiev is currently in custody.
They will both face the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in March.
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