Mum in family court battle when she was found shot dead at home

A mother of three was in the midst of a family court battle with her ex-husband when she was found shot dead in the doorway of her Melton South home.

Cindy Crossthwaite, 41, was in the middle of a family court battle with her ex-husband when she was shot dead on June 20, 2007.

A mother of three was in the midst of a family court battle with her ex-husband when she was found shot dead in the doorway of her home after she failed to pick their young kids up from school.

Cindy Crossthwaite, 41, was brutally beaten and strangled, lying on the floor of her Melton South home when she was shot at close range to the head after school drop off on June 20, 2007, the Supreme Court heard.

Her ex-husband, Emil ‘Bill’ Petrov - who had taken that week off work and earlier hired a private detective to follow her around - is facing trial charged with her murder.

During the prosecution’s opening address on Tuesday, the jury was told the pair had sat through two days of family court proceedings to divvy up their assets, and that Mr Petrov and his parents “stood to lose a substantial amount of money as a result of Cindy Crossthwaite’s entitlements”.

Cindy Crossthwaite’s ex-husband Emil ‘Bill’ Petrov is facing trial charged with her murder.

The third and final day of their court battle was to run just 16 days after Cindy’s death.

There had also been allegations of sexual misconduct levelled at Mr Petrov’s father, who has since died, that were being probed by police, which he believed Cindy had “orchestrated” via the alleged victim.

“At the heart of this circumstantial case is a deep seated and enduring hatred Mr Bill Petrov harboured against his estranged wife,” Crown Prosecutor Mark Gibson KC told the jury.

The court heard that soon after the couple separated in 2005, Mr Petrov hired a private eye in August who carried out surveillance on the young mum, watching where she was going and who she was seeing.

That same month, Cindy had started a relationship with another man, who she’d fallen pregnant to.

The court heard Mr Petrov told a friend he “wanted to bash her for what she’d done”.

Days after the private eye provided his surveillance report, the court heard Mr Petrov phoned Cindy and threatened “if she went to a solicitor regarding family court proceedings that their situation would get very ugly and nasty and one of the parties would end up in prison”.

Within days, she contacted authorities seeking help.

Less than two years later, on a Wednesday afternoon, Cindy was found dead just inside her front door after failing to pick her two eldest children up from primary school.

Mr Gibson said she’d been “severely battered” with injuries to her face and upper body, she’d been “choked” and “most significantly she’d been shot in the face from as close as 15cm away”, blood splatter suggesting she was lying on the floor when she was struck by the bullet.

“The brutal nature we say of that attack ... is suggestive of a most personal crime, not the sort of crime a random burglar would commit,” Mr Gibson said, noting she was wearing all her jewellery when she was found and nothing had been taken from the house.

“This case is about who did it, who was responsible for such an horrific beating and killing of a middle aged mother in suburban Melton South, a woman without enemies except, the Crown says, one.”

That Wednesday, Mr Petrov had the day off work but appeared at his worksite about 11am and spoke to his supervisor.

The court heard one of Cindy’s friends claimed to have seen him at Melton Shopping Centre, a short distance from Cindy’s home, despite living 35km away with his parents in Footscray.

The prosecution’s opening address will continue on Wednesday, followed by the defence response and witness evidence.

The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, is expected to run for up to five weeks.