Hardworking accountant Nikkita Azzopardi found dead inside a South Morang home by her brother after he couldn’t raise her on the phone

The boyfriend of a Melbourne woman has been arrested after she was found dead in her home by her brother who went searching for her when he couldn’t get in contact.

The family of accountant Nikkita Azzopardi, 35, had been unable to reach her on Sunday night after she failed to show up for a family barbecue. 

Her brother Shaun said his dad went to the home in Reid Street at South Morang in the city’s north last night to check on Ms Azzopardi, but no one answered the door. 

After several unsuccessful attempts to contact Ms Azzopardi by phone on Monday, her brother drove to the house and confronted her boyfriend, Joel Micallef, who allegedly said she was unwell and asleep.

‘I barged in there and my father and my brother tried to look for her,’ Mr Azzopardi told reporters on Monday.

‘He barricaded the doors with chairs but I went upstairs and I went through the door and just saw my sister. I can’t get that image out of my head.’

Mr Azzopardi said his younger sister, who had been in a relationship for at least two years, was a gentle soul who would help anyone.

‘She’ll do anything for anyone … she didn’t see the bad in people and always saw the good,’ he said.

Ms Azzopardi, 35, is pictured with her boyfriend Joel Micallef, 35, who has been arrested

‘You think it’s not going to happen to you, to your sister, your brother, but I’m not going to see my sister again.’

The last time Mr Azzopardi saw his sister alive was at his son’s 15th birthday 10 days earlier, which she had arranged at a go-karting venue.

‘In hindsight, if you knew it was the last time, you’d be doing more, you’d be asking more, you’d be taking pictures,’ he said.

‘I don’t know my father’s state, my mum’s state, my brother’s state – how do you move past this, how do you get through it?’

Mr Azzopardi said ‘It doesn’t feel real. I’m trying to stay strong.’ 

Homicide detectives are still piecing together what happened, but arrested Micallef, 33, who will be interviewed in relation to the death.

Victoria Police Acting Senior Sergeant Shaun O’Connell expects investigators will be on scene well into the night.

‘They both spent time at this house but in relation to their living arrangements, investigations are still ongoing,’ Sgt O’Connell said.

‘The exact nature of their relationship is still under investigation. 

‘What I can confirm is that the parties are known to each other and that we aren’t searching for anybody else in relation to this incident.’

Ms Azzopardi’s (pictured) family had been unable to contact her on Sunday night after she failed to show up for a family barbecue

The woman’s shocked brother Shaun Azzopardi is pictured speaking to media at the scene following the death of his sister in South Morang, Melbourne

Police confirmed the man was not known to them.

A neighbour said a detective was brought to tears by the confronting scene.

‘He was crying … other police officers went around him and hugged him,’ Tony Naggiar, 66, told the Herald Sun. ‘He couldn’t stop crying.’

Ms Azzopardi’s relatives arrived at the scene on Monday afternoon and the street remains cordoned off.

At least Australian 70 women and 14 children have allegedly been killed as a result of murder, manslaughter or neglect in 2024, according to the Red Heart Campaign which tracks and memorialises the deaths across the country.

Police respond to reports of family violence every five minutes in Victoria – totalling more than 98,000 incidents in the 12 months to June – according to crime statistics.

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