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Home / World

Court told how Kiwi's husband Borce Ristevski 'covered his tracks'

By Rohan Smith
news.com.au·
26 Jul, 2018 03:10 AM7 mins to read

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2017: Karen Ristevski found dead in Melbourne's Mount Macedon / 7 News

The daughter of accused wife killer Borce Ristevski told him his behaviour "doesn't make sense" in the days after her mum, Karen, went missing.

Mr Ristevski, 54, is accused of killing his wife Karen Ristevski, 47, at their Avondale Heights home on June 29, 2016.

Details of a conversation between Sarah Ristevski, 22, and her father were revealed in open court today.

Karen Ristevski before she disappeared.
Karen Ristevski before she disappeared.

The conversation was obtained by a listening device after a police warrant was obtained for covert surveillance.

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In it, according to prosecutor Matt Fisher, Sarah questions her father about what he did on the day Karen disappeared.

"I went to get shisha," Mr Ristevski said in reference to the smoking tobacco, according to the crown.

"Did you?" Sarah asked.

"I didn't say anything because I didn't know if it was legal," Mr Ristevski told her.

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"It is," Sarah replied.

She then allegedly told her father there was one thing she did not understand.

"You know what I want to know? You're out of the house for two hours, your telephone is off for two hours. You were driving and you turned your telephone off," she said.

Mr Ristevski told her: "That's what (police) are trying to plant out there, Sarah."

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"That doesn't make sense," she said.

"Nothing makes sense, they're making it up as they go along." Mr Ristevski said.

RISTEVSKI IPAD SEARCH HISTORY REVEALED

In the days after Karen Ristevski went missing, the iPad used by her and the accused was used to make a number of searches of Google.

Mr Fisher told the court the queries, between July 1 and July 3, 2016, related to the way Google tracks mobile phones.

Among them were "how to do google tracking history", "where to find map that shows google is tracking your location", "find location history in google maps on iPhone" and "Apple Maps timeline google search".

The magistrate asked Mr Fisher who the iPad belonged to.

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"Whose iPad? Is it Sarah's in her bedroom? Is it on the kitchen table? They might be looking for the deceased's mobile phone and tracking," she said.

Mr Fisher said Sarah Ristevski had her own iPad at the time.

WHAT BORCE SAID WHEN BODY FOUND

On February 20, 2017, when a body was found at Mount Macedon, Channel 9 Melbourne bureau chief Jonathan Gwinner called Mr Ristevski to tell him about the news.

At the time, it was not known that the body was Ms Ristevski's.

The initial response from Mr Ristevski was allegedly: "Well, it's got nothing to do with me."

Mr Fisher said the response was not in line with what might be expected from a husband grieving for his missing wife.

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"It's eight months later and that was the reaction of the accused man and is, in my submission, consistent with a pattern of denying any involvement when he spoke to police or others," Mr Fisher said.

HOW RISTEVSKI 'COVERED HIS TRACKS'

Prosecutors arguing Melbourne man Borce Ristevski murdered his wife say he went to "significant lengths" to cover up what was not "just an accidental killing".

Mr Ristevski, 54, is accused of killing his wife Karen Ristevski, 47, at their Avondale Heights home on June 29, 2016.

Police allege the pair fought about finances before he murdered her, bundled her body into the boot of her black Mercedes Benz SLK roadster and drove it to bushland at Mount Macedon, north of Melbourne, where it was dumped.

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

Ms Ristevski's body was found shoeless between two logs eight months later.

In the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on the final day of a committal hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to go to trial, lead prosecutor Matt Fisher told the court Mr Ristevski's conduct after his wife went missing points to murder.

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"In this case, the post-offence conduct is so sustained, there is so much of and it's so significant that the only conclusion available is that the accused man had murderous intent," Mr Fisher said.

"This isn't just an accidental killing that ends up in the death of his wife and he decides, through panic or fear, to dispose of her body. He goes to significant lengths. It goes well beyond that.

"It starts within a very short time after the death of Karen Ristevski and doesn't end there. It goes on and on and on."

Mr Ristevski's mobile phone was turned off in the hours after Ms Ristevski went missing. Before that, his phone and his wife's phone made contact with Optus mobile phone towers along the Calder Freeway and at Diggers Rest in the direction of Mount Macedon.

Mr Fisher told magistrate Suzanne Cameron that everything Mr Ristevski did after his wife went missing was considered and calculated.

"Firstly, the accused man places her into the boot of her own car which is concealed inside the garage of her own house," Mr Fisher said.

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"Secondly, he leaves that house in that car within a short time of killing her or causing really serious injury.

"He's then driving that car many kilometres to dispose of the body. He's looking for somewhere to dispose of the body. After some driving, he ends up on a dirt track, away from buildings, businesses, houses, people. It's isolated.

"He takes the deceased from the car, places her between two fallen tree trunks and further conceals her body with things from the bush. The crown says it was thorough and required great effort.

"For those eight months, the crown says the accused denies any involvement at all and that he lies about some aspects of this case. He knew full well because of what he'd done. He says to police he never left the home — that he stayed at home and did book work. Another time he says his phone was on all day, never off.

"He then calls, on a number of occasions, the deceased. In the context of this case, the only reason he made those calls was to cover his tracks. There's no report to police until the next day at the urging of his daughter, Sarah Ristevski."

Mr Ristevski strenuously denies any involvement in the disappearance and death of his wife.

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Mr Fisher is making a submission that Mr Ristevski should be committed on a murder charge, not manslaughter.

Mr Ristevski's lawyers yesterday conceded there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial on a manslaughter charge, but they want the murder charge dropped.

David Hallowes SC asked the magistrate to consider the lesser charge.

"We can see the evidence is of sufficient weight for a charge of manslaughter. In no way is that a confession from Mr Ristevski or me that he was involved in any way in the killing of his wife. It's simply an admission there is sufficient evidence that he be committed to stand trial on the charge of manslaughter," he said.

"On the evidence as a whole, it would not be reasonably open for a jury to infer that, if they found Mr Ristevski had killed his wife, that he intended to kill her or cause her really serious injury.

"There was no evidence of violence in the relationship or any threat of violence.

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"There was no financial benefit to be gained by the accused from the death of his wife.

"There was no financial incentive whatsoever … no evidence suggesting any life insurance policies.

"The cause of death is unascertained. The evidence simply doesn't assist in any way in terms of establishing how death was caused."

Magistrate Cameron is expected to hand down her judgment at the conclusion of Mr Fisher's submission on Thursday.

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