A father accused of killing his daughter will make a bid for freedom within weeks, a court has been told.
Petrit Lekaj, 49, faced a bedside hearing before the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday charged with murdering his medical student daughter Sabrina Lekaj, 20.
A lawyer for Mr Lekaj told the court he could apply for bail within weeks depending on his recovery from stab wounds police said he inflicted upon himself moments after allegedly murdering his daughter.
Mr Lekaj appeared in court via video link from his hospital bed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he remains under police guard.
He will remain in police custody until his next court appearance.
Ms Lekaj, 20, was found dead in the front seat of Mercedes-Benz sedan just down the road from her family home in Kidman Park, Adelaide about 11.30pm on Sunday.
Petrit Lekaj (right, with his wife Romina), 49, faced a bedside hearing before the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday morning charged with murdering his daughter Sabrina Lekaj, 20
Ms Lekaj (pictured) was found dead in the front seat of Mercedes-Benz sedan just down the road from her family home in Kidman Park, Adelaide about 11.30pm on Sunday
Daily Mail Australia has been told the young woman had a strained relationship with her parents.
Police were reportedly called to the Lekaj residence on Sunday afternoon, just hours before the shocking incident.
In the lead up to her death, Sabrina Lekaj, 20, sent text messages to her close friends about life within the four walls of the Adelaide home where she lived with her parents Petrit and Romina Lekaj.
Ms Lekaj told friends about her often volatile relationship with her parents, how they ‘had a lot of beef’ and that she didn’t want to live under their roof any longer.
Sabrina: ‘I just cried…’
Friend: ‘In laughter?’
Sabrina: ‘Nah I was genuinely upset… because my mum always calls me a b***h so it hit a sensitive spot’
Friend: ‘Aww well you’re not a b***h babe don’t listen to anyone or what they have to say’
A lawyer for Mr Lekaj (left) told the court he could apply for bail within weeks depending on his recovery from stab wounds which police say he inflicted upon himself moments after allegedly murdering his daughter
Ms Lekaj (pictured) was studying medical imaging at the University of South Australia having been accepted into the course after a Year 12 score of 99.35
Ms Lekaj told friends she ‘had a lot of beef’ with her parents and didn’t want to live under their roof any longer. The bright student also encouraged her friend not to go to university
Sabrina: ‘Thank you babe. Your opinion matters more than that loser… (she) shouldn’t be working with kids’
In another message she encouraged the same friend not to go to university, saying it was a ‘trap’ and indicating that she wanted to move out of home.
Sabrina: ‘Are u planning to go to Uni? Don’t do it it’s a trap.’
Friend: ‘Yes babe I wanna study but I wanna make sure I’m set up money and house wise before I do cause I don’t live or speak to my parents’
Sabrina: ‘That really sucks. I had a lot of beef with mine but somehow I’m still living here lol’
Sabrina: ‘There are a lot of things I wish I could take back’
Police found her body inside her Mercedes-Benz about 11.30pm on Sunday. Mr Lekaj was in the car next to her suffering stab wounds – police are expected to allege in court that these were self-inflicted
Ms Lekaj was found dead in the front seat of her luxury car on Sunday night, after an intense search by South Australia Police.
An hour before she was discovered her mother had raised the alarm with police over concerns for the safety of her daughter and husband.
Officers found the pair in Ms Lekaj’s car about 11.30pm, 250 metres up the road from their family home.
Ms Lekaj was dead and her father was suffering multiple stab wounds to his stomach which police believe were self-inflicted.
He was rushed to hospital and on Tuesday police charged him with her murder. The father-of-two will face a bedside hearing on Friday.
Ms Lekaj’s parents are understood to have immigrated to Australia from Albania and worked as real estate developers.
They had recently sold their flashy three bedroom home for $590,000.
Friends of Ms Lekaj said they had never met her parents and were not allowed to stay at her house for sleepovers.
Ms Lekaj (left), a university medical student, had regularly confided in her close friend Katie Valstar (right) about her father’s ‘controlling’ ways
Ms Lekaj had spent her last night alive partying with Ms Valstar (pictured) at The Dog and Duck, their favourite Adelaide night spot. They had gone out to celebrate Ms Lekaj finishing her Uni exams
Ms Lekaj (centre) on her 18th birthday with her father Petrit (left) and mother Romina (right)
They also claimed she was banned from having a boyfriend or talking on the phone at night when she was meant to be studying.
‘She said (her father) would often argue with her over little things, that he would try and control her life,’ Ms Lekaj’s close friend Katie Valstar told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Her dad would ask her all the time if she had a boyfriend and it really left her feeling like she couldn’t do anything without running it past them.
‘It was very stressful for her having them on her back about everything, she told me she wanted to move out of home.
‘She had been over to my place a few times, but I had never been to hers because her parents didn’t even want her to have friends over.
‘Often when we were on the phone she would suddenly hang up because she didn’t want to get caught and get in trouble for not studying.’
Ms Lekaj had spent her last night alive partying with Ms Valstar at The Dog and Duck, their favourite Adelaide night spot.
It was a night out to celebrate an intense exam period for the bright medical student.
After graduating from Nazareth Catholic College with a score of 99.35, Ms Lekaj was accepted into the University of South Australia where she was studying classical piano performance and medical imaging
Police had to smash the windows of the Mercedes-Benz to get to Ms Lekaj (left, with her mum) and her father
She had been accepted into the University of South Australia after a Year 12 score of 99.35.
After their night out Ms Lekaj stayed at Ms Valstar’s house, where she remained until about 1pm on Sunday.
When she finally hopped in her white Mercedes-Benz sedan to drive home she told her best friend she would call when she arrived.
‘But she never did,’ Ms Valstar said.
‘Her last words were: “I love you, I’ll message you when I get home”.
‘Knowing I was the last person to see her alive, it’s really hard to come to terms with.’