A series of bungles by officers handling the investigation into the murder of Karen Ristevski led to her husband Borce receiving a plea deal that is likely to see him walk free from prison in less than 20 years.
Daily Mail Australia has been told that police were caught on the hop when the 47-year old mother went missing from her Avondale Heights home in Melbourne’s northwest in the early hours of June 29, 2016.
Ristevski took everyone by surprise when he pleaded guilty to his wife’s manslaughter on Wednesday, on the eve of his murder trial.
Crown prosecutors decided to drop the murder charge after Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale ruled the prosecution could not use evidence about Ristevski’s conduct after his wife’s death to prove he had murderous intent.
The murder case had hinged on this evidence.
‘Lots of egos get in the way of a good investigation,’ a legal source told Daily Mail Australia.
Wife killer Borce Ristevski carries the coffin of his wife Karen. At the time he had denied killing her and carried out a shameful ruse. He pleaded guilty to her manslaughter this week
Karen Ristevski went missing from her Avondale heights home in 2016 sparking a nationwide ‘who dunnit’. her body was found stuffed between two logs in bush land outside of Melbourne. Some now argue her killer will never truly receive justice
Multiple sources claim the Ristevski investigation was mismanaged by force command from the beginning, because Mrs Ristevski’s disappearance was regarded simply as a missing person, rather than potentially a murder victim.
‘It wasn’t handled correctly from the start by a crew of junior members and inexperienced bosses,’ the insider said.
The revelations fly in the face of comments by Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton this week, who said investigators were ‘relieved’ by the plea deal.
‘I think it allows for justice to move through a lot more quickly in that case,’ Mr Ashton said on Melbourne radio. ‘I’m not disappointed, everyone’s worked very hard on that case.’
But Daily Mail Australia has been told senior detectives are actually frustrated at the plea deal – particularly given the lessons that ought to have been learnt following the successful prosecution of Fernando Paulino, 55, in 2018.
Paulino stabbed his wife Teresa Paulino to death in the garage of her parents’ Reservoir home, where she was living, in July 2013.
He was sentenced to a minimum of 25-years jail after being found guilty in a ground-breaking trial for domestic murders.
Legal sources have told Daily Mail Australia the decision by Justice Beale should have come as no surprise to prosecutors after a similar ruling went against them in Paulino.
In that trial, Justice Kevin Bell set a benchmark for what investigators could expect when bringing suspected wife killers to court.
‘Paulino set the benchmark for domestic-related murders,’ a legal expert said.
Borce Ristevski is comforted at the funeral of his wife Karen. He pleaded guilty to killing her on the eve of his Supreme Court murder trial. He will now receive a heavily discounted sentence
Channel 7 reporter Cameron Baud flat out asked Ristevski (right) if he killed his wife. Baud – known in media circles as the Harvester of Sorrow – was bagged at the time. But his question has now been answered
Fernando Paulino was given similar opportunities at trial provided to Borce Ristevski. Unlike Ristevski, Paulino rolled the dice and ran a murder trial. It didn’t end well for him
Teresa Paulino had been a doting mother to her two children. Her wicked ex-husband Fernando Paulino murdered her in cold blood and tried his best to get away with it. Justice was eventually served with a 30-year maximum jail tern being delivered his way
Justice Bell’s various rulings saw every piece of direct evidence police had gathered to put Paulino at the murder scene ruled-out to enable him a fair trial.
This included binning evidence that placed his wife’s DNA on three items of his clothing and on the rear driver’s side of his car.
He also threw out CCTV footage of Paulino’s car driving around the murder scene and ordered the jury to dismiss evidence provided by witnesses that observed Paulino declaring he would kill his wife.
Prosecutors then appealed the decision.
But the Court of Appeal agreed with Justice Bell and the evidence was scrapped.
‘It seems to me that, on any view, the case against the respondent, whether with or without the DNA evidence, is quite overwhelming,’ the court stated.
Justice Bell further set a benchmark with his maximum 30-year sentence.
Daily Mail Australia has been told force command ignored offerings of advice with the Ristevski prosecution by those closely involved with the Paulino trial.
The case shared many similarities with the Paulino prosecution, including a reliance on CCTV video of the supposed killer’s car.
Police planned to use CCTV footage they claimed was Mrs Ristevski’s black Mercedes-Benz SLK coupe travelling towards Mount Macedon, the area her body was found, on the day she disappeared.
‘Borces lawyers would’ve referred to the Paulino case for all their submissions in disallowing evidence – CCTV, DNA, relationship,’ the expert said.
‘Once a judge makes a decision other cases can refer to those decisions – Especially cases so similar.
CCTV footage of Mrs Ristevski’s car being supposedly driven by her husband was to be a crucial part of the prosecution trial until the court ruled that such evidence could not be used to prove he had murderous intent
In Justice Beale’s published findings, it is revealed the Ristevski prosecution relied so heavily on the killer’s behaviour after committing the crime that it was not confident in even opening a murder trial without it.
This behaviour included inconsistent police statements, omissions, blatant lies and his general attitude towards the police investigation.
‘The accused did not dispute that that conduct and most of the other conduct referred to … could be used by the prosecution to prove that he killed his wife unlawfully,’ Justice Beale said. ‘The accused, however, submitted that it was not open to the jury to infer from the alleged incriminating conduct that he killed her with the intention of causing death or really serious injury.’
Stary Norton Halphen lawyer Sam Norton, who represented Ristevski during his pre-trial hearing, was coy when asked by Daily Mail Australia today how his client was doing.
‘Much better now,’ he said.
Ristevski’s confession on the eve of his five-week murder trial has left relatives shocked, with many now trying to figure out why he suddenly changed his story.
It is a mystery that even has seasoned detectives baffled.
‘I’m not sure what caused him to admit it as we have no cause of death,’ one officer said.
Ristevski himself appears to have told his legal team the death of his wife was spontaneous.
In arguing to dismiss his post-conduct behaviour, RIstevski’s legal team argued police had no clues as to a possible motive for murder.
‘The general lack of any evidence going to premeditation in this case, supporting the inference that the accused’s conduct was spontaneous and that his post-offence conduct was consistent with a panicked reaction,’ they stated.
‘For example, the accused did not switch his phone off until 11:09am on 29 June 2016, 26 minutes after he had been driving his wife’s car and he did not switch off his wife’s phone until 11:40am.
‘Further, there was photographic evidence of a couple of shovels left in the garage, which did not appear to have been used in any effort to bury Karen Ristevski.’
Ristevski further dismissed he murdered his wife because of the dire financial situation of their business.
‘The accused submitted that the financial situation of the Ristevskis was likely to deteriorate if Karen Ristevski was killed given that she was in effect the “heartbeat” of the “Bella Bleu” clothing business which they operated,’ his barrister told Justice Beale. ‘Her importance to that business was a motive for the accused not to kill her.’