Borce Ristevski pleads guilty to killing wife Karen

On the eve of his Supreme Court murder trial Borce Ristevski has pleaded guilty to killing his wife Karen.

Borce Ristevski arrives at the Supreme court in Melbourne last August. Picture: David Crosling

Borce Ristevski has pleaded guilty to killing his wife Karen a day before he was going to stand trial for murder.

Ristevski was due to stand trial on the charge of murder but the Supreme Court has confirmed he entered a plea today to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

By his plea Ristevski has admitted to killing his dress shop-owner wife, 47, at their Avondale Heights home on June 29, 2016, before dumping her body in bushland.

When his wife vanished, Ristevski told police she had gone for a walk to clear her mind and never returned.

Her remains were found eight months later in Macedon Region­al Park by two horticulturalists who had noticed an unusual smell.

The committal hearing heard an autopsy could not ascertain the cause of Karen Ristevski’s death.

Ristevski, a pallbearer at his wife’s funeral, was charged with murder after an investigation that involved listening devices and CCTV footage analysis.

It was alleged he took his wife’s Mercedes-Benz roadster to dispose of her body in bushland, killing the signal of his and her mobile phones on the way.

He then dumped his wife’s body between two logs and concealed it with branches before returning home.

Ristevski pleaded guilty to manslaughter after Justice Christopher Beale made a pre-trial ruling on the use of evidence about Ristevski’s behaviour after killing Karen.

“Whilst the post-offence conduct can be relied on as evidence that he killed his wife, it cannot be relied on to prove murderous intent,” Justice Beale said this morning.

Prosecutor Brendan Kissane QC immediately asked the court for a break to consider the ruling.

He returned after the lunch break with an indictment for manslaughter.

Ristevski was arraigned on the lesser charge and pleaded guilty.

Lawyers for Ristevski had pushed for a committal on the lesser charge of manslaughter, arguing no jury could find there was murderous intent.

Prosecutors however argued Ristevski’s deceitful behaviour after the killing gave rise to the required intent.

They said the way he concealed the body and lied to family and police were not the actions of a man who had accidentally killed his wife.

The couple’s daughter Sarah told the committal hearing her father was never aggressive towards her mother.

The family’s troubled financial situation was aired, with details of Ristevski’s fashion store Bella Bleu being unable to cover its ­expenses.

The Ristevskis had allegedly argued over money before the killing.

Ristevski will appear at his sentencing hearing on March 27.

Karen Ristevski with her husband Borce Ristevski and daughter Sarah. Supplied