A Fijian man with a wife and children back home was charged yesterday with murdering his Australian girlfriend, whose body was found in the boot of a car.
Daniela D'Addario, 35, a public servant in Canberra, was reported missing by her family on Monday after she failed to respond to calls and texts over the weekend.
On Wednesday night, NSW police stopped a blue Hyundai Getz at Cuttagee Pt, near Bermagui, on the NSW south coast.
The driver, 27-year-old Josaia Vosikata, who had reportedly had an on-off relationship with D'Addario, fled into bushland. A body believed to be hers was discovered in the car boot.
On Thursday, following a 20-hour manhunt, Vosikata was arrested at Cuttagee Pt, apparently after a Channel 7 cameraman spotted him and notified police. The Fijian was extradited to the ACT yesterday morning after appearing in local court. He was charged with murder in the ACT Magistrates Court in the afternoon.
A former neighbour of D'Addario's, Chris Reid, said the couple had been seeing each other for about four months and had a "very tumultuous" relationship.
They split about a month ago, Reid said, after she found out Vosikata had a family in Fiji.
"At this stage, this bloke was living in Daniela's unit, not paying any rent and sending money back to his wife and kids in Fiji," he told Fairfax Media. "She obviously flipped and broke up with him. For whatever reason, they got back together."
ACT police asked anyone who might have heard a disturbance in the Bruce district of Canberra on Sunday night to contact them.
Vosikata did not apply for bail yesterday. He was remanded in custody to reappear in a fortnight.
Reid described D'Addario as a "beautiful person ... very caring and very intelligent and always wanting to help".