Mum of five accused of fatally bashing father-in-law Konstantinos Kritikos

A son took the hand of his bloodied and beaten father as he lay dying on the floor of his Coburg home and asked him who his attacker had been, a court has heard.

Kon Kritikos died in hospital after an alleged assault at his home in November 2020.

George Kritikos grabbed the hand of his dying father, Kon, lying bashed and bloodied on the floor of his Coburg home and demanded to know “who did this”.

“Her, her, her,” his ailing father, 87, said in Greek as the mother of two of George’s children, Danielle Lee Birchall, stood nearby calling paramedics, according to evidence heard in court.

Moments earlier, George had parked outside his parents’ Reynard Street home about 10.45pm on November 11, 2020.

As he and Ms Birchall got out of the car, he thought he could hear the sound of moaning and his father calling his name.

Konstantinos Kritikos died 13 days later with his daughter-in-law, Ms Birchall, 48, now standing trial for his murder.

She has pleaded not guilty and denies any involvement in his death.

A Supreme Court jury this week heard that Ms Birchall, a mother of five who had $14.95 in her bank account, needed to pay $8k the next day when she picked up a used car.

The day Kon was fatally injured, she’d told her son she was driving to a horse paddock to see her animals just before 3pm.

Instead, she could be seen heading towards the house of her parents-in-law 45 minutes drive away, where it was known they kept cash.

In Coburg, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu said Kon’s neighbours Emily Thompson and Jonathon Evans heard “loud thuds” from next door, about 4.30-5pm.

Becoming concerned about the elderly man’s welfare as his wife Effie was in hospital after a fall, they went to check on him.

They knocked on the front door where Ms Birchall — who they couldn’t see — appeared 20 seconds later saying, “Everything is okay. It’s just George. He’s upset.”

But the court heard at that time, CCTV showed George working on a car in his Melton driveway.

Kon Kritikos suffered a traumatic brain injury before having a stroke. He died in hospital 13 days later.

Hearing groans in the background, Mr Evans assumed it was George, but prosecutors say it was an injured Kon.

The court heard Ms Birchall left soon after, calling Ms Thompson to say they thought they’d be picking Effie up from hospital and were going to get dinner and come back.

She returned to the Melton home she shared with George before 7pm, where CCTV showed her wearing different clothes and black Ugg boots and what appeared to be wet hair tied up.

The clothes she left in — a dark top with a white pattern and light-coloured runners — have never been found.

Over the next four hours, the jury was told Ms Birchall and George went to the Parkview Hotel in Fitzroy with mate Nathan Stone, then to Red Rooster in Preston, then Mr Stone’s in Kingsbury.

As they headed home about 10.30pm, Ms Birchall suggested they stop and check on Kon.

The couple found him on his hallway floor covered in blood, moaning and bashed to the face.

Mr Porceddu said George rushed to his father and grabbed his hands, asking him to squeeze them.

His hands were big, the dying man said in Greek, before telling his son who it was that did this: “Her.”

The couple were arrested at the scene while Kon, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and swallowed two of his seven missing teeth, was put in the back of an ambulance.

At some point he had a stroke, which Ms Birchall’s lawyers say is what really killed him.

At the time of her arrest, the accused killer had $6,535 in cash on her, which she said was to pay the balance of her Holden Captiva the next day.

She later told cops she hadn’t gone inside Kon’s house when she went alone that afternoon, only speaking to him from the back door.

“The prosecution says that this is a lie and incriminating conduct and can be used as an admission of guilt by the accused,” Mr Porceddu said.

Bloody footprints were found by police throughout the house, with Mr Porceddu claiming it was Ms Birchall’s bare feet that made them.

The jury heard Ms Birchall said she was heading to her horses about 3pm when she received a call from St Vincent’s hospital stating her mother-in-law Effie might soon be released.

On the way to the hospital, she said she got another call that the plan was off, so she headed to Kon’s to let him know.

But Mr Porceddu said there was no record of the calls on her phone.

Defence barrister Chris Pearson said Kon was “treated in a way that no human being should in fact be treated”, but his client didn’t do it.

“She simply is not the person who caused any of those terrible injuries,” he said.

Mr Pearson told the jury even if they did find that Ms Birchall inflicted Kon’s injuries, she could not be guilty of murder because the evidence showed he died of a stroke.

The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.