Two family members make shock claims about why Borce Ristevski admitted to killing his wife

Karen Ristevski’s aunt says Borce Ristevski may have admitted to killing his wife of 20 years to cover the tracks of the real criminal. 

After years of denying involvement in the mother’s death, Ristevski confessed by pleading guilty to manslaughter at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The charge had been downgraded as part of a last-minute plea deal by prosecutors.

Ristevski’s confession on the eve of a five-week murder trial has left relatives shocked, with many now trying to figure out why he suddenly changed his story.

Relatives have speculated that Borce Ristevski (pictured left) may have denied killing his wife for so long to protect his daughter Sarah (pictured right) of further pain

Karen's aunt Patricia Gray said she was 'gobsmacked' upon hearing Ristevski's guilty plea. 'So he is ­either covering up for someone or just can't face it'

Karen’s aunt Patricia Gray said she was ‘gobsmacked’ upon hearing Ristevski’s guilty plea. ‘So he is ­either covering up for someone or just can’t face it’

Sarah Ristevski led the procession at the funeral, holding a framed picture of her shop owner and fashion designer mum

Sarah Ristevski led the procession at the funeral, holding a framed picture of her shop owner and fashion designer mum

Karen’s aunt Patricia Gray told the Herald Sun she was ‘gobsmacked’ upon hearing Ristevski’s guilty plea.

‘He has done it because he is not willing to say what he did. He is just saying, ”Yeah, OK, I did it”. So he is ­either covering up for someone or just can’t face it,’ she said.

‘He just won’t say. I’m gobsmacked. There is a reason, and it will be to suit him and no one else,’ she added.

Other relatives have spoken out with claims Ristevski hid the crime to spare his only daughter Sarah of more pain.

‘The embarrassment and heartbreak of losing Sarah’s love would have been too much,’ a relative told 7 News.

‘He thought, ‘Deny, deny, deny. They can’t prove it.’ For him to have the presence of mind to do everything he did afterwards is unbelievable and unforgivable.’

Anthony Rickard, Ristevski’s son from a previous relationship, made the shocking claim the confession came after he threatened to expose a dark family secret.

‘I am responsible for this, I gave him an ultimatum,’ Mr Rickard told news.com.au.

‘I told him; ‘If you don’t get up and be a man I’ll go into the (witness) box and tell them exactly what went on behind closed doors’.’ 

Borce Ristevski (right) has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter death of his wife Karen (centre), bringing the depth of his betrayal of his wife and daughter Sarah (left) into stark relief

Borce Ristevski (right) has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter death of his wife Karen (centre), bringing the depth of his betrayal of his wife and daughter Sarah (left) into stark relief

Television reporter Cameron Baud (right) boldly asked Borce Ristevski if he had killed Karen, bringing a media conference to a tearful end

Television reporter Cameron Baud (right) boldly asked Borce Ristevski if he had killed Karen, bringing a media conference to a tearful end

Mr Rickard claimed his father decided not to go to trial in a bid to protect his only daughter Sara from hearing the details of a supposed ‘affair’ between him and Karen.

Mr Rickard, who has a long history of drug abuse and addiction, claimed he had been having an affair with his stepmother before she was killed.

‘He knew what was going on between me and Karen but he did nothing, he didn’t protect me, he was a coward,’ Mr Rickard claimed to news.com.au.

It isn’t the first time Mr Rickard has voiced the unsubstantiated claims.

In Facebook posts from 2016, he accused Ristevski of allowing him to do drugs and claimed that Karen’s ‘fantasy’ was to run away with him.

‘Ur a low price of sh** that watched me do drugs as u allowed Karen to continue her fantasy of leaving u to run away with me [sic],’ he claimed.

Later that year he reportedly demanded $200,000 from a television network for a tell-all about the supposed affair. 

Ristevski's son from a previous relationship, Anthony Rickard (pictured), claims his father's sudden confession didn't have anything to do with a guilty conscience

Ristevski’s son from a previous relationship, Anthony Rickard (pictured), claims his father’s sudden confession didn’t have anything to do with a guilty conscience

Ristevski was a pallbearer at the funeral of his wife - who he has now confessed to killing

Ristevski was a pallbearer at the funeral of his wife – who he has now confessed to killing

The allegations from Mr Rickard come shortly after it was revealed Miss Ristevski was ‘blindsided’ by her father’s sudden guilty plea.

Miss Ristevski was not present at the court during the pre-trial hearing. She wasn’t allowed to be, as she had been listed as a prosecution witness in her father’s trial.

Since her mum’s disappearance, Miss Ristevski has had to endure the loss of one parent, the callous betrayal of her father, and the public’s macabre fascination with the case.

Sources with knowledge of the situation said ‘(Miss Ristevski) did not’ anticipate the plea.

Ristevski’s sudden confession came after a Victorian Supreme Court judge ruled that crucial prosecution evidence of Ristevski’s ‘murderous intent’ was inadmissible.

Crown prosecutors hinged their murder charge on evidence about Ristevski’s behaviour after Karen’s disappearance in mid-2016.

Karen’s body, found wedged between two logs in a national park months after she vanished, was too badly decomposed for there to be a conclusive cause of death.

Ristevski’s manslaughter plea means he will avoid a life sentence, the maximum penalty for a murder charge.

His trial was supposed to start today.

The plea is the beginning of the end of the circus surrounding the Ristevski family, from which Miss Ristevski has suffered the most.

In a haze after her mother’s disappearance, Miss Ristevski had to stand by her father during a public appeal for information in mid-2016.

It was then that the first questions were bluntly raised about Ristevski.

‘Did you kill Karen, Borce?’ a TV reporter asked the family patriarch. Ristevski did not answer.

The media conference came to a swift, teary end. In private, Ristevski blamed police for trying to ‘pin’ the crime on him, a court heard.

After nine agonising months of mystery, Miss Ristevski’s mother’s body was found at the Mount Macedon Regional Park in February 2017.

She mourned her mother at a funeral service attended by her father, listening as the crowd were regaled with tributes about the ‘close’ family unit.

Ristevski acted as pallbearer and buried Karen at a cemetery in Williamstown, near one of the couple’s favourite spots.

Karen Ristevski's body was found by horticulturalists at this site in early 2017

Karen Ristevski’s body was found by horticulturalists at this site in early 2017

The heat on Ristevski began to escalate as time went by. He was hounded by the press.

His own lawyer described him as the ‘prime suspect’ in Karen’s killing. He was convicted in the most brutal court – that of public opinion.

Ristevski was charged by police in December 2017.

Miss Ristevski remained quiet through it all, confiding only in a small circle of family and friends.

Last year, the young lady appeared in court at her father’s committal as a witness called by the prosecution where she made her first detailed public remarks about the case.

Miss Ristevski told the court her mother tended to raise her voice in arguments and her dad was a ‘calming influence’.

‘Dad was always the calm one,’ she said.

The couple would often argue over their fashion boutique Bella Bleu, she said. The chain was struggling.

Borce Ristevski seen this week arriving at the Supreme Court complex in Melbourne

Borce Ristevski seen this week arriving at the Supreme Court complex in Melbourne

Reports claimed Miss Ristevski did not make eye contact with her father, who was visibly emotional, during the hearing.

The Crown prosecutor Matt Fisher was adamant Karen’s death had been no accident.

‘Something happened in the house,’ he told the court.

‘The accused man engages in behaviour soon after he has either killed her or caused her serious injury.’

Miss Ristevski admitted in court Ristevski’s behaviour ‘didn’t make sense’ in the days after her mother vanished.

She questioned him about why his phone was switched off, the committal hearing was told.

As read by Mr Fisher in court, Miss Ristevski said to her father: ‘You were out of the house for two hours. Your phone is off for two hours… They pinged you on the Calder (Freeway).’

Ristevski responded: ‘That’s what they are trying to plant out there, Sarah.’

‘That doesn’t make sense,’ Miss Ristevski said.

‘Nothing makes sense because they’re making it up as they go,’ he replied.

At the court hearing, Miss Ristevski said she had been ‘basically stalked’ by the media over the course of the hearing.

She looked over at the assembled news reporters and said: ‘Thanks for that’. The terrible spectacle surrounding her family will soon be over.

Borce Ristevski will face a sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment for Karen’s death.        

ELINE OF KAREN RISTEVSKI’S DEATH AND BRINGING HER KILLER BORCE TO JUSTICE

Karen Ristevski with her daughter Sarah

Karen Ristevski with her daughter Sarah

June 29, 2016

Karen Ristevski last seen at her Melbourne home in Avondale Heights 

Her mobile phone pings off a tower in the Macedon Ranges

A car similar to her black Mercedes SLK coupe is spotted by CCTV cameras near Diggers Rest railway station

July 14, 2016

Husband Borce Ristevski and daughter Sarah make a tearful plea for information to help find their missing wife and mother

December 19, 2016

Police search grassland, waterways, creeks and farms

February 20, 2017

Karen Ristevski’s body is found at the Mount Macedon Regional Park

March 6, 2017

Funeral service held with Borce Ristevski a pallbearer and daughter Sarah leading the procession

August 31, 2017

Police recreate the journey of Ms Ristevski on the day she went missing in a black Mercedes, identical to hers

December 13, 2017

Borce Ristevski is charged with murder and faces court where a lawyer indicates a not-guilty plea. He is remanded in custody

April 18, 2018 

Ristevski returns to court where it’s revealed detectives tapped his phone calls and planted listening devices as they investigated the alleged killing, compiling a 22,000-page evidence brief

Ristevski is granted state-funded legal aid as he fights the allegations

July 16, 2018 

Ristevski’s two-week committal hearing begins and later hears evidence from his daughter Sarah who said he was never ‘aggressive’ towards her mum.

August 2, 2018

Ristevski is ordered to stand trial in the Supreme Court, charged with murdering his wife

December 4, 2018 

A five-week trial for Ristevski is set for March 2019

March 13, 2019

A day before a jury is due to be empanelled for his murder trial, prosecutors withdraw the murder charge after a judge’s ruling.

Borce Ristevski pleads guilty to the alternative charge of manslaughter

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