The NSW deputy state coroner has come to a conclusion regarding the inquest into Melissa Caddick‘s disappearance and called out her husband while doing so. Yikes.
Melissa Caddick vanished from her Dover Heights home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in November 2020, right after a raid on her property by police. The “financial advisor” was accused of defrauding eight people in a giant ponzi scheme that saw her funnel somewhere between $20 million and $30 million from investors, friends and even family.
Three months after her disappearance, Caddick’s severed foot was found on a beach. Since then, theories have run rampant about what happened to her and whether she is still alive.
The coroner’s court has been looking into the circumstances around her disappearance, including the competency of police, her mental health at the time and evidence reported by her family. Specifically evidence from her husband Anthony Koletti, who had had his own fair share of controversy in the wake of her disappearance.
Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan concluded that Melissa Caddick is dead, by explanation that she would have contacted her son if she was still alive.
“I have concluded that Melissa Caddick is deceased,” she said.
“However, a more problematic issue is whether the evidence is sufficient to enable a positive finding of how she died and how and when it happened.”
Ryan then went on to skewer Koletti, who she found to have withheld information from police in a way that was “regrettable”. She said his evidence led to “strong suspicion” that he knew more than he let on.
Coroner is absolutely blasting Melissa Caddick’s husband Anthony Koletti saying he was an unimpressive and unreliable witness who failed to give a full and frank account to the inquest about what happened in the aftermath of ASIC’s raid of their Dover Heights house.
— Kate McClymont (@Kate_McClymont) May 25, 2023
The coroner in the Melissa Caddick case is damning of Anthony Koletti – says he lied, and had “awareness of Ms Caddick’s movements” after she disappeared but refused to share. Says his inability to help investigators cannot be attributed to his low intellect
— Tom Steinfort (@tomsteinfort) May 25, 2023
“I have concluded that in the period [immediately before he reported her missing] he had some awareness of Ms Caddick’s movements over the previous two days, but he chose not to disclose it,” Ryan found.
“He did not give a full and frank account to the court of what happened.”
In terms of how Melissa Caddick died, the coroner found she couldn’t say for sure.
She said suicide was a possibility as Caddick could have felt it was her “only escape from the personal and professional catastrophe that overtook her on 11 November 2020”.
That being said, Ryan said she couldn’t rule out “misadventure” completely given how little evidence there is about how she vanished, and the “shortcomings” of the police investigation.
Ryan found that police didn’t consider homicide until too late, meaning they didn’t call in the homicide squad. There was also a delay in reviewing CCTV footage from the area, among a bunch of other police fuck-ups.
“I regret that positive findings cannot be made as to the cause and manner of Ms Caddick’s death,” she said.
“Ms Caddick’s husband, son, parents and brother must surely feel a strong need for finality. Melissa Caddick was a wife, mother, daughter and sister. Her disappearance from her family in traumatic circumstances must be a source of deep and ongoing sadness for them.”
If you need mental health support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
You can also reach the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 or chat online.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
