
For the past four years, we’ve seen her name in the news headlines and her infectiously happy smile in the few photos that we’ve been privy to.
We’ve become so familiar with the facts of the crime.
Karen Ristevski, 47, vanished from her Avondale Heights home in July 2016 after an argument about money with her husband Borce Ristevski.
Eight months later, her skeletal remains were found in a shallow grave in the Victorian bush. Her body was so decomposed that it could not be determined how she died.
Her husband had always been the prime suspect in her murder, a fact he continuously and vehemently denied for two years, lying to police, family, friends and his own daughter, until the eve of his high profile murder trial.
In March 2019, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, finally admitting what so many had long suspected – he had killed his wife.
On April 18, 2019, he was sentenced to nine years in jail with a non-parole term of six years. With time served, he’ll be out in less than five.
Outside court following the sentencing, Stephen Williams, the brother of Karen Ristevski, told reporters, “Nothing was going to bring Karen back, but today was about justice, and we didn’t get justice today at all.”
“As a society, in regard to domestic violence, we must, at some stage, take a stand.”