Borce Ristevski has been sentenced to 9 years in jail on a charge of manslaughter over the 2016 death of his wife, Karen.
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Ristevski previously, and somewhat sensationally, entered a guilty plea on the manslaughter charge in mid-March, right as he was on the precipice of facing a Supreme Court trial on a charge of murder. Though the guilty plea of manslaughter in essence acts as an admission that Ristevski killed his wife, he has not once told police how he killed Karen, nor why he chose to dump her body in bushland north-west of Melbourne.
Police believe that Karen Ristevski was killed sometime between 8:58am and 10:43am on June 29th, 2016, the day she was reported missing. It wasn’t until February 20th, 2017 – some eight months later – that her body was found in a shallow grave in the Macedon Ranges Regional Park. Borce steadfastly denied any involvement – even going so far as to carry his wife’s coffin – throughout the police investigation.
In handing down the sentence, which drew gasps from those in attendance, Justice Christopher Beale noted that Borce’s conduct during the investigation, right up until today, was a significant “aggravating factor” in the sentence.
You have finally accepted responsibility for killing Karen [but] you have not revealed how or why you have killed your wife.
You have not taken the high road of full and frank disclosure consistent with true remorse.
Despite the magnitude of the crime and Ristevski’s conduct after the fact, Justice Beale set a non-parole period of just 6 years in handing down today’s sentence. With time already served factored in, Borce Ristevski could walk free from prison in under 5 years.
