Two men charged over death of missing Brunswick woman Isla Bell, 19, after body found at Dandenong tip
The final moments of Isla Bell’s life were captured on CCTV through the window of her accused killer’s apartment before her body was put in a fridge, police allege.
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The horrific last moments of slain teenager Isla Bell were captured on CCTV through the window of her accused killer’s apartment before her body was stored in a fridge for weeks, police allege.
Court documents reveal Ms Bell, 19, had only met Marat Ganiev on October 5 — two days before he allegedly killed her in his St Kilda East apartment.
A police summary, released by the court, alleges Mr Ganiev was seen on sophisticated CCTV through the front kitchen window, in “what appears to be a fight” with Ms Bell inside his apartment about 12.43am on October 7.
“Investigators observed what appears to be Bell’s head whipping around as if she has been struck,” the police summary alleges.
“She falls to the ground and Ganiev can then be seen striking her on the ground of the kitchen.
“What appears to be Bell’s head can be seen rising up before being pushed back down by Ganiev’s arm.”
The footage captured Ms Bell again in the apartment up until 2am, when she was not seen again.
It had captured her entering the apartment for the last time at 9.27pm on October 5, and then she is never seen leaving.
Police allege the last message Ms Bell sent from her phone was to a friend via Snapchat on October 7, just after midnight, where she revealed she had found “the best Russian sugar daddy”.
She stated that this person had been lavishing her with gifts and had saved her from “sex traffickers”.
But soon after, the messages stopped.
The footage is the key to the case as police charged Mr Ganiev over the teen’s murder.
It is alleged the footage showed Mr Ganiev extensively cleaning his house over the next few days.
On October 9 at 10.27pm, his friend and co-accused Eyas Yaffe arrives at the apartment in a silver Rav 4 towing a trailer, which has a black fridge on it.
The pair allegedly moved the fridge out the back of Mr Ganiev’s apartment.
But it wasn’t until October 17 at 2.05pm, they were allegedly again seen on CCTV removing the old fridge and placing it on a trailer attached to the silver Rav 4.
“It is clearly visible that the fridge has been wrapped in a clear plastic and the black tape has been placed on the edges of the doors,” the police summary alleges.
The fridge is then driven to an address in Caulfield South, believed to be known to the men, where the trailer is parked until October 22.
A neighbour reported to police the trailer had a foul smell and was attracting flies, and that they had seen someone spraying Glen 20 around it to try to mask the smell.
Mr Ganiev is then alleged to have moved the trailer containing the fridge to a Bentleigh East property at 4.57am on October 22.
The trailer remained at that address for several days before Mr Ganiev is accused of moving it again to Mulgrave, where he then allegedly stored the fridge in a Hino removalist van.
Ms Bell’s remains were then found on November 18 by a resident, who noticed a foul smell coming from the fridge.
After he removed the plastic wrapping from the fridge, the door swung open and a bag fell out.
He believed the bag contained animal remains, and subsequently dumped the fridge on a street corner in Bentleigh where hard rubbish was already present.
He then placed the bag containing Ms Bell’s remains in a residential rubbish bin.
The resident later contacted police.
Mr Ganiev was in police sights as a person of interest early in the investigation due to him appearing in Ms Bell’s phone records.
On October 20, he agreed to meet investigators at the Fawkner Police Station where he allegedly said he had met Ms Bell while helping a friend move some property from a St Kilda Rd address on October 5.
He allegedly claimed Ms Bell was offered a place to stay at his Fulton St apartment and that she stayed for three nights, before he dropped her off around the corner in his car in the afternoon of October 7.
Asked about his house being extensively cleaned, he said there was a “very bad smell” from a dead possum hanging in a tree outside his front door.
He also told detectives he had bought some things from Coles for Ms Bell, such as food and drink, but denied buying her any presents.
Mr Ganiev also denied having sex with the teenager, saying “she was too young for him”, but he “knew he could have her if he wanted to”.
When Mr Yaffe was subsequently interviewed by police on October 28, he allegedly admitted he had delivered a new fridge to Mr Ganiev and then removed the old fridge a few days later, but denied knowing what happened to Ms Bell.
As he left the station on that day, police followed him and allege he met with Mr Ganiev in a street in Caulfield South where he was observed and photographed removing a bag from his vehicle and throwing it in the bin.
Officers retrieved the bag and believe it belongs to Ms Bell.
On the same day police allege Ms Bell was murdered she had excitedly texted her friend, keen to talk about a recent out with a man.
“She was just about to tell me all about her night, this new guy she was with, how and where she met him, she abruptly stopped replying before giving me any more details,” the friend said.
“She was very eager and excited to tell me all about it, then radio silence.”
As part of the mammoth investigation, police were able to retrieve the fridge and identify the trucks which had collected the rubbish from the bins where Ms Bell’s remains were dumped.
This led them to a waste depot in Dandenong, where they found Ms Bell’s remains on Tuesday.
Detectives pounced on Mr Ganiev and Mr Yaffe, who immediately changed their version of events from their earlier interviews.
“Mr Ganiev initially continued to deny any knowledge of the fridge after it had left his premises,” police allege.
“When it was disclosed that police had located the fridge, Mr Ganiev admitted to having transported Ms Bell’s remains after she died at his premises.
“He stated he did not know how she had died and that he did not assault her or cause her death.”
Police allege Mr Yaffe was arrested carrying drugs and $6000 cash and had booked a ticket to fly to Bulgaria on Wednesday.
Instead he was charged with assisting Mr Ganiev in the murder of Ms Bell and fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Mr Ganiev appeared briefly in the dock at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning.
He did not say anything throughout the administrative hearing and no details of the allegations against him were aired.
Mr Yaffe, 57, smiled and waved to his family as he was brought into Melbourne Magistrates’ Court by custody officers on Wednesday afternoon.
Top barrister Ian Hill KC, for Mr Yaffe, told the court they intended to make a bid for bail.
But given the late timing in the day, Mr Hill successfully asked the matter be adjourned to Friday.
Asked if there were any custody management issues, Mr Hill said his client should be seen by the nurse as he has a pre-existing back injury which causes pain.
Detectives were given until February 12 to prepare their brief of evidence in the case.
Magistrate Justin Foster ordered that Mr Ganiev be seen by a custody nurse after his lawyer, Adrian Lewin, raised that he had not had his prescribed 70mg of methadone for two days.
He was remanded in custody to return to court for a committal case conference on March 26.
His case was adjourned to Friday when he is expected to apply to be released back in to the community.
His bail bid will be vehemently opposed by police, who allege he is a flight risk, with connections in Israel.
“At the time of his arrest the accused was in possession of bank cards in the name of other businesses and persons,” police allege.
“The accused has been evasive with police in the past about his residence and contact details.”
Could not protect you’: Mum’s heartbreak
Isla’s mother, Justine Spokes – who had made several public appeals to find her missing daughter – issued an emotional statement on Wednesday.
“I am so, so sorry my darling daughter,” Ms Spokes said in a statement provided to the Herald Sun.
“I could not protect you from your complex illnesses and this cruel world.
“I was so proud of your choices this year, your strength to endure despite your suffering.
“All you ever wanted was to create, make and nurture life, to love and be loved.
“We were so much looking forward to being reunited as a family again; my heart aches and cannot reconcile that’s not going to happen.”
Ms Spokes said her daughter would always be remembered for her kindness and adventurous spirit.
“The gentlest soul, the kindest human and free spirited,” she said.
“I will connect to you in spirit my care bear and no one can take that connection away from us.”
Days after Ms Bell vanished, her mother made an impassioned plea to the community to help find her daughter.
“My girl is missing and dearly missed,” Ms Spokes wrote on social media.
“She leaves an impression, she’s hard to forget. She has a fighting spirit, sometimes it’s loud and sometimes it’s soft, always enduring.
“We’re here for you bub.”
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