New lead on Jessica Zrinski’s cold case and how she was fleeced of $10k from a friend
Police are looking into fresh evidence about Jessica Zrinski’s final moments before she vanished, as we reveal how she was fleeced of $10,000 by a friend.
Homicide detectives are now investigating a reported sighting of a blue Commodore being driven erratically on the night Jessica Zrinski vanished.
It comes after a new multimedia investigation called Left in the Cold spoke exclusively to Sean Edwards, who detailed a startling account of seeing a blue Commodore station wagon driving on the wrong side of the road in Sydney’s west just hours after Jessica was seen alive.
Mr Edwards said he contacted police in 2023 – after NSW Police released crucial CCTV which showed a blue Commodore, Jessica and a key person of interest – but he wasn’t interviewed until yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Left in the Cold team can reveal Jessica was fleeced of $10,000 by a so-called friend, despite begging him to stop spending her money in the weeks before her disappearance.
The friend, Anthony German Famularo, now 49, was one of a host of people who stole from, and took advantage of the 30-year-old.
There is no suggestion Famularo had any involvement in Jessica’s disappearance. Police verified his alibi and he is not a suspect.
She vanished in November 2022 after jumping into a car with a mystery man in southwest Sydney.
Police believe she was killed and dumped in bushland in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, however the main suspect – who detectives refuse to publicly identify – wouldn’t co-operate, and there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him.
Famularo, one of her close acquaintances, pleaded guilty to stealing almost $10,000 of welfare benefits from her Commonwealth Bank account within seven months of her disappearance.
According to documents from Fairfield Local Court, Famularo knew Jessica was missing in November 2022 when he started transferring her fortnightly $645 Centrelink Jobseeker payments to his own account via PayID.
At the time, he was unemployed with two children and was receiving $550 per fortnight from Centrelink.
He later told detectives that Jessica allowed him to use extra money to buy Christmas presents for his children.
Although, a stream of text messages between Jessica and Famularo on November 15 and 16, 2022 – the week before she disappeared – tell a different story.
Jessica: “Hey don’t spend my money.”
Famularo: “No of course I won’t it’s still on our account.”
Jessica: “Don’t spend my money I should have $250 in there I’m getting my hair done today.”
Famularo: “I’m not spending ur money. I’m at K’s place and talked her into letting you come back over. Davis is here to.”
Jessica: “Don’t ever spend my money ever again you took $250 I’m not your mrs to do that.”
Court documents say he continued to transfer her payments into his own account between December 2022 and April 2023, before investigators blocked all access to Jessica’s account in early May 2023.
Once Famularo lost access, police believe he tried to find out whether her account was still active by making two small deposits. On May 1 and 12, he deposited 5c and 10c into her account with the references “thx” and “Test”.
He then called Services Australia on May 12 and replaced Jessica’s account details with his own St George account to receive her Centrelink payments.
During the call, which was recorded, he told staff that Jessica didn’t have access to her account anymore and the account details needed to change because he was paying off her debts.
Famularo then made a MyGov claim on Jessica’s behalf on May 25 and received $708.50 into a Westpac account.
He did the same thing again on June 8, telling Services Australia staff Jessica was interstate and he was the nominee on the account. He successfully claimed a further $708.50.
Court documents state there were 15 Centrelink claims made on Jessica’s behalf between December 12, 2022, and June 9, 2023, totalling $9743.35.
Famularo was arrested on June 7, 2023, and admitted accessing the funds and spending them on himself. He told police Jessica would have wanted him to do that, as per their supposed Christmas gift arrangement prior to her disappearance.
In August 2023, he pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and was sentenced to an 18-month community correction order.
Police now have a new lead to examine after interviewing Mr Edwards.
He said he stopped at a set of lights at the foot of the Blue Mountains at about 4am on November 29, 2022. The Holden emerged from a side street, went through the lights and crossed onto the wrong side of the road.
“And I was looking in the mirror and thinking, ‘what’s he up to?’” Mr Edwards recalled.
“As I looked back, a highway patrol car came down and stopped at the lights.”
A friend of his had the same model of car, in the same shade of blue. He texted his friend that night as a joke, asking: “That wasn’t you running from the cops in your wagon this morning was it?”
The friend replied: “Nah not me lol.”
That text exchange is now in the hands of police.
You can also donate to the family’s GoFundMe campaign.
For any tips, please email ashlea.hansen@news.com.au
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Originally published as New lead on Jessica Zrinski’s cold case and how she was fleeced of $10k from a friend
