By Marta Pascual Juanola and Hannah Hammoud
A man has been charged with murder over the stabbing death of his wife inside their home in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, where they had spent the previous day celebrating Christmas with their family.
John Beres, 63, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a brief hearing on Thursday evening, hours after calling triple zero to report an assault on his 59-year-old wife, Yvonne Beres, to the police.
John Beres was arrested in Langwarrin on Thursday morning.
The court heard Beres, who is in custody for the first time, was vulnerable due to his age and health. He suffers from type 2 diabetes and requires regular medication for issues with his knees and back.
He spoke to confirm he took daily painkillers to deal with pain resulting from two back operations – in 2020 and 2021. “It’s a regular dosage that I take every day,” he told the court.
Emergency services rushed to the Wood Duck Court home in Langwarrin about 6.30am on Thursday after receiving his call. Officers could not save Ms Beres, who was found with stab wounds inside the property.
Police arrested Beres at the scene and took him to Frankston police station, where he was interviewed by investigators for several hours before being charged with one count of murder.
Forensic police at the Wood Duck Court property in Langwarrin. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
An image of the arrest obtained by this masthead shows him, his hands tied behind his back, being led to a police vehicle by two uniformed officers.
The couple had moved into the property from nearby Mount Eliza earlier this year, looking to downsize after their adult children left the family home.
Neighbours described Ms Beres as a lovely woman who enjoyed gardening and walking her foster greyhound.
“Something like this happening in this quiet, friendly, little street is really shocking and especially at this time of the year,” neighbour Martine Casagrande said. “It’s hard to believe something like this has happened.”
Casagrande, whose property backs onto the Beres family home, said the couple had been celebrating with friends in their backyard earlier this week and seemed to be in good spirits.
“There was laughter and chit-chat and everything seemed very normal pre-Christmas ... an enjoyable, pleasant feeling,” she said. “They always say hello and speak when they walk past. There’s been no upsets of any kind, it’s been very peaceful, nothing like this you would imagine would happen.”
Homicide squad detective inspector Dean Thomas said investigators were still working to put together a timeline of the incident, but they believed Ms Beres had been stabbed in the early hours of Thursday.
“The family of the victim have been spoken to and obviously they are extremely upset … I believe the family gathered here yesterday at the address to celebrate Christmas,” Thomas said.
“Here we have what appears to be a family violence type incident where we’ve had a female killed. We need to do everything we can to bring a stop to this type of crime occurring.”
Thomas said there was no recorded history of violence between the couple.
The street was cordoned off for most of Thursday as investigators examined the scene.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“We are still trying to piece together what has gone on and why it has occurred,” he said.
Wood Duck Court remained cordoned off for most of Thursday as forensic investigators examined the house. Officers could be seen walking along the street in overalls and taking photographs of the surroundings of the property.
A neighbour who did not want to provide her name for privacy reasons said she had briefly spoken to Ms Beres on a couple of occasions since they moved in, and she was “an extremely nice lady”.
The neighbour said she had noticed the couple’s four-wheel-drive parked at the back of the property and assumed they were about to set off on a caravaning trip.
“Having met her, this just made me very sad … the impression you got is that it was a happy family,” she said.
John Beres was remanded to appear in court again in April.
Anyone who witnessed the incident, with dashcam/CCTV footage or information, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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