Vicky Soteriou eyes freedom decade on from husband kill plot
An evil wife who arranged for her secret lover to attack her husband at his birthday celebrations is preparing to be freed a decade after the horrific attack on her husband.
Police & Courts
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A wife who arranged for her lover to stab her husband on his birthday in a failed murder plot is eyeing freedom.
Vicky Soteriou is in the final stages of a long sentence for orchestrating the street ambush of her husband Chris by the man she was having an affair with.
Prison sources say Mrs Soteriou is excited and preparing for life on the outside, a decade after the horrific attack on her husband which left him close to death.
In January 2010, the mum of three arranged a 44th birthday celebration at a Fitzroy restaurant for Chris.
But she had her lover Ari Dimitrakis lying in wait, and he launched a brutal onslaught as they walked to their car after dinner and drinks.
Vicky Soteriou provided Dimitrakis with the weapon he used to slash her husband’s throat and stab him six times. Mr Soteriou only survived through the swift actions of two off-duty doctors who stemmed the bleeding until emergency help arrived.
She would later unsuccessfully try to claim Dimitrakis had acted alone.
Mr Soteriou told the Sunday Herald Sun this week he had not yet been notified of her release date, and authorities were required to give him two weeks’ notice.
“You never forget what happened but you have to forgive and move on,” Mr Soteriou said.
“Life is a journey with its ups and downs. I sunk to the lowest level but I have risen again and life is now beautiful — new partner, new lifestyle.
“We have a good life now. After all the chaos and trauma, we are happy.”
Mr Soteriou said he had not received the $2.5m he was owed from his former wife after a judge in 2015 ordered she pay him damages
“She never had the money,” he said. “I had three properties and I had to transfer the ownership to my name. It doesn’t even cover half of it though.”
It was alleged in those proceedings that Vicky Soteriou tried to transfer property to her family in an attempt to avoid paying up.
Mr Soteriou said he had protected his two children from their mother, who had been in prison for most of their lives.
“They don’t even know what she looks like,” he said. “I’ve protected them for 10 years, in an extreme way. No phone calls, no birthday cards.”
He said he and his current partner were “a bit concerned” about her forthcoming release from prison and had “stepped up security” at home.
In 2011, Vicky Soteriou was jailed for 12 years with a non-parole period of nine for attempted murder.