John Torney cleared of murdering a two-year-old Nikki Coslovich
THE partner of a dead toddler’s mother has been cleared of murdering the two-year old, whose body was found in the roof of the home.
THE boyfriend of a two-year-old girl’s mother has been found not guilty of murdering the toddler, whose body was discovered in the roof of her family home.
A Victorian Supreme Court jury cleared John Clifford Torney, 32, on Thursday finding he was not responsible for the death of Nikki Francis Coslovich.
Mr Torney denied murdering Nikki at her family home in the regional Victorian town of Mildura on August 25, 2015.
Nikki was fatally beaten but could have lingered for up to an hour before she died, prosecutor Gavin Silbert QC said during the Supreme Court trial.
An audible sigh could be heard throughout the packed courtroom as the jury delivered its verdict.
The pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Nikki said the fatal blunt force trauma injuries inflicted on her were akin to those seen in high-speed vehicle accidents or a fall from a great height.
“She was bashed to death,” Mr Silbert said in his opening address. Nikki was reported missing on August 25 by her mother, Peta-Ann Francis, after she discovered her little girl’s bed was empty.
Nikki died as a result of repeated blows to her abdomen and chest. Her liver was split in several places and she lost between one quarter and one third of her total blood volume.
The crown said the damage was caused by the repeated infliction of a clenched fist to the abdomen and chest of the child.
Mr Torney had been dating Ms Francis for about five months at the time of Nikki’s death.
The toddler had spent the morning at home with Mr Torney while her mother ran errands, which have been verified by CCTV footage, Mr Silbert said. Her body was later discovered in the home’s roof cavity by a police officer who had noticed dirty fingerprints on a manhole cover in the hallway and climbed on a chair to investigate.
Mr Silbert said an autopsy found Nikki had died between 11am and 2.30pm that day.
“A pathologist will tell you that, based on the horrific injuries sustained, she could have been alive for up to an hour after the bashing before she died.”
But Mr Torney said it was Ms Francis who killed her daughter and all he did was help hide her body.
In a police interview after Mr Torney was charged with murder, he alleged Ms Francis told him, “I’ve gone too far with Nikki, she’s not breathing,” while standing outside the toddler’s bedroom.
Barrister Julie Condon said Ms Francis told Mr Torney she had thrown the girl on the bed, and asked him to hide the body and go along with the missing person’s story.
“She’s a woman who has spun so many lies, not little lies but big, bad ones,” Ms Condon said in her defence opening statement to the trial.
Ms Francis’ alleged lies and inconsistent statements to police “speak of a guilty conscience”, she said.
Ms Condon says a recording of the triple-zero call that Ms Francis made to report Nikki’s disappearance showed Ms Francis was unable to respond to the operator’s question about when she last saw her daughter.
Ms Francis had been monitored by child protection officers, and was not coping with the demands of motherhood, the court heard.
- with AAP