Mueseli boss Peter Pavlis charged with killing company director

JENNIFER Borchardt’s boyfriend found her dead in a pool of blood. Now her colleague and the founder of their successful Melbourne company is in the frame.

Jennifer Borchardt and Peter Pavlis were co-directors of The Mueseli Company. Picture: AAP

AN elderly muesli company boss has been charged with murdering a colleague by allegedly stabbing her at the woman’s Melbourne home.

Peter Pavlis, 75, allegedly murdered 49-year-old Jennifer Borchardt who was found in a pool of blood by her boyfriend at her Richmond home on Tuesday.

Pavlis is the founder and director of Melbourne-based The Muesli Company and it’s understood Ms Borchardt worked at the cereal business as a co-director for 18 years.

Murder victim Jennifer Borchardt. Picture: AAP

The Herald Sun reports Ms Borchardt held a 25 per cent stake in the company and investigators are examining whether a business dispute played a part in her death.

The elderly man faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday evening after his arrest and did not apply for bail.

His family were in court for the brief appearance and Pavlis mouthed a message to them before he was remanded to return to court on Thursday.

Peter Pavlis at the compnay’s Thomastown plant.

The court heard Pavlis is diabetic and suffers from sleep apnoea, high blood pressure and arthritis, so magistrate Robert Kumar ordered he be seen by a doctor in custody.

The Muesli Company, started by Pavlis in 1984, operates from Thomastown and produces wholegrain breakfast cereals.