Borce Ristevski sentenced to nine years' jail for wife Karen's manslaughter
Borce Ristevski has been sentenced to nine years in jail with a non-parole period of six years for the high-profile manslaughter of his wife Karen.
Her body was found dumped in bushland in February 2017, eight months after she disappeared from her home in Avondale Heights in Melbourne’s northwest.
Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale said Ristevsk had already served 491 days during pre-sentence detention. This means he may be out of jail in less than five years.
Justice Beale said the couple’s daughter Sarah was the principal victim of the case, with Ms Ristevski having to live without her mother, and a father who is imprisoned over her death.
Ristevski lied to his wife’s family and took part at her funeral as a pallbearer, playing the part of an “innocent, grieving widower”.
Ristevski was charged with murder in December 2017 but in March, Justice Beale ruled the evidence could not prove murderous intent.
He instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Borce had taken control of sentencing, Karen’s friend says
A childhood friend of Ms Ristevski was hoping he would be handed a “fair” sentence for killing her.
“I can’t believe that manslaughter’s actually a fair charge. In a way, it is him taking control, isn’t it, of his own sentencing,” the friend known as Sam told the Nine Network.
“He controlled how Karen died, he controlled where she went, that her body wasn’t looked after.
“Now he is controlling that he is able to have a lighter sentence, which I find incredibly, incredibly unfair.”
Ristevski killed his 47-year-old wife on June 29, 2016, at their Avondale Heights home before bundling her body into her Mercedes-Benz.
The 55-year-old drove to Macedon Regional Park, covering her body in branches, with her skeletal remains found between logs by horticulturalists eight months later.
Sam and her sister spent their weekends searching for Ms Ristevski, on hearing she was last seen in Toolern Vale.
They came within 50 metres of where her body was dumped.
“In Macedon, my sister said, ‘I can smell something.’ I said, ‘I can smell something.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s probably just a kangaroo.’ Later on, we found that’s where she was found,” Sam told the Nine Network.
She said she wanted to speak out because no one was being a “voice” for her childhood friend.
“Karen was a beautiful girl. She was very shy. She was very attractive, but very naive. She had a very close group of school friends, one of whom was one of my sisters. She just had so much life and energy in her and so much sweetness,” she said.
She said she hoped the Ristevskis’ daughter Sarah is “standing up strongly”.
“I know she needs her father, but I believe her mother needs a voice and somebody needed to look after Karen and her interests and say what a wonderful, wonderful person she was too.”
An autopsy could not determine the cause of death, and Ristevski has not shed any light.
Sarah Ristevski has supported her father throughout the ordeal.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.
