‘I want him to suffer’: Son comes face to face with his killer father after murder of mother Cindy Crossthwaite

A killer father who murdered his estranged wife, Cindy Crossthwaite, in her Melton South home has been confronted by his son in court, two decades after the brutal crime.

Cindy Crossthwaite was murdered in her Melton South home.

A son has stared down his killer father in court almost two decades after he murdered his mother, who was shot dead in the doorway of her Melton South home metres from her helpless toddler.

Cindy Crossthwaite, a mother of three, was beaten, choked and shot in the face at close range as she lay in the entrance of her home in Melbourne’s west on June 20, 2007.

Her estranged husband Emil “Bill” Petrov, 61, was in December found guilty of her murder, sparked by a bitter child custody and property dispute.

For years, Ms Crossthwaite lived in fear, telling her new partner only days before her death that she believed her life would be taken at the hands of her former husband.

Emil Petrov was found guilty of murder in December last year. Picture: Nadir Kinani

Her loved ones packed into the Supreme Court on Friday as Petrov, who was charged with murder in July 2019, faced a pre-sentence hearing.

The two children he shared with his former wife, Nicholas and Jesmine, rose to their feet to read their victim impact statements, lashing the man who robbed them of their childhoods.

“I will never know what it’s like to have a mature relationship with my mother because of you,” Nicholas said, turning his head to look at his father in the dock.

“She gave me her eyes and lucky she did – because you took hers, remember?”

Outside court, Nicholas said he could not comprehend his father’s lack of remorse.

“He felt nothing. It’s not human,” he said.

“I looked him dead in the eye and still … nothing.

“I wanted him to hear what I had to say and he definitely heard it.”

Nicholas Crossthwaite says he cannot comprehend his father’s lack of remorse. Picture: Aaron Francis

Ms Crossthwaite’s father Philip described to the court the moment he discovered the lifeless body of his 41-year-old daughter after she failed to pick up Nicholas and Jesmine, then aged 7 and 9, from school.

“I knew there was something wrong before I got there,” he said.

The court heard how he walked through a “pool of blood” in a panic to find her 13-month-old son, Jonas, who she shared with her new partner Daniel Hinds.

He said he knew Petrov was wrong for his daughter from the very beginning.

“I refused to give Cindy away at her wedding,” he said.

“I had an instant dislike for Petrov.”

Ms Crossthwaite was locked in a bitter child custody and property dispute with Petrov. Picture: Supplied

Nicholas’ sister Jesmine spoke of her anxiety when their mother failed to pick them up from school that fateful day.

She was brought home by a relative and caught a glimpse of her mother before her body had been taken away.

“That image of her has haunted me my whole life,” she said.

Mr Hinds said he loved Ms Crossthwaite deeply, describing how she was stolen from him and their son Jonas.

“I can’t comprehend how someone can commit such a crime with a 13-month old baby metres away from his mother’s lifeless body,” he said.

Outside court, Mr Hinds said this was Cindy’s fear for many years.

“Even days before she passed, she told me about it,” he said.

“She knew it was going to happen … that fear was always there.”

Phillip Crossthwaite discovered his daughter’s body. Picture: Aaron Francis

Ms Crossthwaite’s partner at the time, Danny Hinds, says she was stolen from him. Picture: Aaron Francis

Her friend Julie Burfurd, who helps victims of family violence, said Ms Crossthwaite’s pleas for help “fell on deaf ears”.

“Why could I not protect Cindy and her children from a crime she knew was going to happen?” she said.

Wearing a white shirt, Petrov, from Footscray, sat expressionless in the dock as each victim impact statement was read out.

Crucial to the prosecution case was the evidence of Brian O’Shea, a drinking buddy of Petrov, who said he sourced a gun for his former mate about a year before Ms Crossthwaite’s death.

“I’m going to kill Cindy, will you help me? I’m going to kill the c--t,” Petrov said to Mr O’Shea about two months before the murder.

Mr O’Shea was charged alongside Petrov in 2019, but the jury was told he had his murder charge dropped after he agreed to give evidence against him.

Brian O’Shea gave evidence against Petrov. Picture: David Crosling

But despite the jury’s verdict, Petrov continues to deny the offending.

His defence barrister Ashley Halphen told Justice Christopher Beale he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Petrov carried out the murder himself.

At trial, the prosecution argued he could have enlisted another person to shoot his estranged wife, while the defence pointed the finger at his late father, Ljubisa Petrov, then 68, who it claimed orchestrated the killing without his son’s knowledge.

Prosecutor Mark Gibson KC said Justice Beale could conclude Petrov was the gunman, given a neighbour recalled seeing a man matching his description near Ms Crossthwaite’s home on the day of the killing.

Petrov has been remanded in custody. Picture: David Crosling

The court heard Petrov has no prior criminal history, was not subject to any intervention orders at the time of the murder and has now remarried.

“His wife … describes him as a good husband and a very good father,” Mr Halphen said.

He argued his client should not be sentenced to life imprisonment, but accepted he will spend the “whole or a very substantial portion” of the rest of his life in custody.

But Nicholas said he wants his father to rot behind bars.

“I want him to suffer. I want him to feel the suffering we felt,” he said.

Petrov will be sentenced on April 16.