By Erin Pearson and Lachlan Abbott
A man accused of murdering his partner at their South Morang home failed to appear in court because he is receiving treatment in hospital.
Joel Micallef, 33, has been charged with killing Nikkita Azzopardi, 35, but was absent from the first court hearing for the case at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Nikkita Azzopardi, 35, was found dead in a South Morang home on Monday, October 28, 2024.
Defence lawyer Clare Morris said it was her client’s first time in custody and he was currently being treated for “health complications” since being arrested on Monday.
Magistrate Cecily Hollingworth remanded the 33-year-old in custody to reappear in court in March.
Azzopardi’s body was found in a bedroom at a home on Reid Street at about 10am on Monday.
Documents released by the court show detectives believe Azzopardi was murdered sometime between October 26 and October 28.
Joel Micallef, 33, has been charged with the murder of his partner Nikkita Azzopardi.
Her brother, Shaun Azzopardi, said his family went to the South Morang home on Monday morning to check on his sister after she failed to appear at a family barbecue the previous day or respond to calls and texts.
Shaun said he and other family members forced their way inside the house to find Micallef and, inside a barricaded bedroom, his sister’s body.
Azzopardi, who worked at an accounting firm, and Micallef had been together for more than two years, Shaun said.
The Azzopardis watched the court hearing online as the judge ordered that Micallef be remanded in custody.
Shaun Azzopardi at the scene.Credit: Justin McManus
“It’s like everything is in slow motion,” Shaun said.
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Shaun O’Connell, from the Victoria Police’s homicide squad, said emergency services who attended the scene would be offered counselling.
It was one of two homicide-related hearings to occur in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
A hearing for accused killer Todd Leslie Menegaldo, 35, also occurred in his absence. The court was told security staff were unable to bring Menegaldo up from the nearby cells due to safety concerns.
Detectives charged Menegaldo with manslaughter on Tuesday after he allegedly assaulted Seddon man Andrew Truman, 44, in the CBD earlier this month.
Police allege Truman was randomly attacked by Menegaldo while he had been walking along Elizabeth Street from Flinders Street at about 6.30pm on October 9. He died in hospital three days later, after suffering significant head injuries.
Court documents state Truman was walking past Flinders Street station when he was allegedly followed by Menegaldo who was yelling abuse.
Police said CCTV showed Truman looking over his shoulder as he tried to walk away, when he was struck once to the right side of his head, causing him to fall to the ground.
CBD assault victim Andrew Truman.
The documents say Truman later regained consciousness, for about eight minutes, before collapsing.
“As an organ donor [Truman’s] final act was to give a chance of life to others,” the documents read.
Detectives later launched a three-week-long manhunt for Menegaldo, who was arrested at a Moonee Ponds boarding house on Tuesday.
The court heard Menegaldo was currently withdrawing from heroin and needed to see a custody nurse to obtain a withdrawal pack.
Like Micallef, the court hearing proceeded in Menegaldo’s absence. He was remanded in custody to reappear in court, also in March.
Neither man applied for bail.
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