By Erin Pearson
Brunswick teenager Isla Bell was allegedly murdered by her “sugar daddy” during an assault captured on CCTV before her body was sealed in a fridge and driven across Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs for days.
Bell, 19, allegedly met Marat Ganiev, 53, at a St Kilda apartment building on October 5. Police say that within days she was dead and her body was eventually disposed of in a Dandenong tip.
A police summary released by the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court alleged Bell had stayed with Ganiev at his home, and sent a message to a friend just after midnight on October 7 telling her she had found “the best Russian sugar daddy”, who had been lavishing her with gifts and saved her from “sex traffickers”.
Soon after, Bell stopped sending messages, and on October 10 her mother reported her missing.
Detectives allege they discovered Ganiev’s St Kilda East home was surrounded by a sophisticated CCTV system which captured Bell entering for the last time about 9.27pm on October 5, the court documents say. She was never seen leaving.
Police allege that about 12.43am on October 7, the CCTV captured a fight though a gap in a kitchen window between Ganiev and Bell.
“Investigators observed what appears to be Bell’s head whipping around as if she has been struck,” the summary says. “She falls to the ground and Ganiev can then be seen striking her.
“What appears to be Bell’s head can be seen rising up again before being pushed back down by Ganiev’s arm.
“Over the next few days, Ganiev can be seen engaging in extensive cleaning of his apartment.”
Police allege that on October 9, the CCTV showed Eyal Yaffe, 57, arriving at the property driving a silver Rav4, towing a trailer with a black fridge in the back.
Eyal Yaffe will apply for bail on Friday.Credit: Facebook
The fridge remained at the apartment for eight days before the pair were allegedly seen removing an older fridge wrapped in clear plastic and black tape from the property and driving it to an address in Caulfield South.
Two days later, on October 19, police attempted to contact Ganiev for the first time after establishing he knew Bell through her phone records. Within an hour, the fridge was moved again, this time to Hampton.
There, a neighbour complained the trailer had a foul smell and was attracting flies, which someone had attempted to cover with Glen 20.
Over the following days, police allege, the fridge was driven around Melbourne suburbs in the back of the trailer before eventually ending up at a recycling facility in Clayton.
There, a resident dropping off their own items came across the fridge, noticed the foul smell and opened it. A bag fell out, which they believed contained a dead animal.
The witness moved the fridge to a street corner in Bentleigh near a pile of hard rubbish before placing the bag of remains, which he didn’t realise might be human, in a residential rubbish bin.
The remand summary states police later located the fridge on the corner of Tucker Road and Brosa Avenue, and then used the help of the local council to track rubbish trucks in the area to the tip where Bell’s remains were found on Tuesday.
Police allege that during their investigation they watched Yaffe and Ganiev meet in a Caulfield South street, where Yaffe had disposed of a bag belonging to Bell.
A pile of hard rubbish at the corner of Tucker Road and Brosa Avenue in Bentleigh that police cordoned off and searched on Tuesday.Credit: Nine
Ganiev, who has been charged with Bell’s murder, faced the court on Wednesday along with Yaffe, of Hampton, who is charged with assisting an offender.
Yaffe, who sat in the dock flanked by two security guards, smiled and winked at his friends and family seated in the court, one of whom wiped away tears as he was remanded in custody.
When spoken to by police, Ganiev allegedly told them he had met Bell while helping a friend move house. He denied he had ever had sex with the 19-year-old, but said he knew he could have if he wanted to.
He said he last saw Bell after dropping her off at Caulfield, and that soon after, his friend Yaffe dropped a fridge off at his home.
But when officers told him they had found the fridge, Ganiev “admitted to having transported Bell’s remains” after she died at his house, police allege.
“He stated he did not know how she had died, and that he did not assault her or cause her death.”
Yaffe initially denied knowing Bell, and said he had moved an old fridge from Ganiev’s house on October 9.
“When confronted with evidence that he had lied about this, he admitted that he had lied,” the court document alleges.
Brunswick woman Isla Bell.Credit: Facebook
Police said that when they arrested Yaffe, he was found with $6000 and was due to fly to Bulgaria.
Ganiev’s lawyer, Adrian Lewin, said his client was prescribed methadone but had not received it for two days.
Yaffe’s legal team, which includes barrister Ian Hill, KC, said their client intended to apply for bail on Friday and that he needed to see a nurse for a back injury.
Magistrate Justin Foster ordered both men be seen by a nurse, and for Ganiev to be kept in custody until his next appearance in March.
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