Borce Ristevski still hasn't revealed how he killed his wife Karen. Photo / supplied
Borce Ristevski still hasn't revealed how he killed his wife Karen. Photo / supplied
Borce Ristevski's actions in the days, months and years after he killed his Kiwi wife of 27 years have been slammed by a Victorian Supreme Court judge.
The 55-year-old was stone-faced in the dock of the packed courtroom this morning as Judge Christopher Beale tore strips off his character.
He lashed the father-of-two for not only killing New Zealand woman Karen Ristevski but for the way he tormented her family and withheld the truth.
"You had killed your wife, disposed of her body and started down a road of deceit that you were to continue on for nearly three years," Judge Beale told Ristevski.
"You continued spinning your web of lies, lying not only to your daughter but to extended family, friends, police but even the public in a press conference organised by the Missing Person's Unit.
"When Karen's body was discovered after eight months, you acted as a pallbearer, playing the part of the innocent grieving widower. The pretence, the rank deceit, only ended a few weeks ago."
He said it was a "cruel" act to tell the 47-year-old's family that they could not talk to the media and it was even worse to order them not to talk to police.
"Rather than making any meaningful efforts to locate your wife, you would make angry calls to (members of Karen's family) demanding they stop talking to police," the judge said.
He said Ristevski instead used his energy to "rant and rave about police and media" to anybody willing to listen, all the time knowing how she died and where her body was hidden.
Borce Ristevski and wife Karen Ristevski. Photo / supplied
Ristevski was jailed for nine years for manslaughter this morning. He will have to serve a minimum of six years and has already been behind bars for 491 days. It means he could serve less than five years.
Judge Beale said the fact Ristevski would not reveal the manner in which he killed his wife was a further act of cruelty to Karen's family and to the couple's only daughter Sarah.
Karen's cousin, Lisa Gray, submitted a victim impact statement to the court begging Ristevski to tell the truth.
"If Borce could do anything for Karen or her side of the family, it would be for him to help take away the constant stream of images I experience daily of Karen struggling for her last breath. The not knowing is worse than knowing," she said.
"How does someone find peace and acceptance when we will spend the rest of our lives wondering what happened that morning?"
Karen's cousin Stephen Richardson said he pictured the worst about what might have happened on the morning of June 29, 2016.
"I often think of different scenarios about how it happened," he said in a victim impact statement.
"I pray that it was quick but unfortunately I will never know."
The judge slammed Ristevski for the way he acted at Karen's funeral after her body was eventually discovered.
He said it was a "constant source of anger and disbelief" that he was an "active participant" at his wife's funeral.
It was a message shared by Karen's cousin Nevada Knight last month, who told the Supreme Court she felt sick when she thought about Ristevski's comforting words that day.
Sarah Ristevski, right, has never stopped supporting her father Borce, middle, after he killed his wife Karen, left.
"I hugged him standing over her body at her gravesite where he whispered, 'Thank you for coming, your support means a lot.'"
Karen's aunt Patricia Gray said she would never forgive him for taking Karen's life, or for failing to reveal what happened to her.
Ms Gray said she did not attend Karen's funeral because she couldn't bear to watch Ristevski carry the coffin or hear "lies spew from his mouth".
"To watch … as he was comforted by family and friends, to hear lies spew from his mouth — it would've made me sick," she said.
"I can never forgive Borce for the lies and deceit and manipulation … He manipulated his family. I believe he bullied and manipulated (Sarah)."
Sarah was in the courthouse this morning but not in the courtroom. She opted to watch the sentencing from a separate room. Outside court, she refused to speak to waiting media.
She is, according to Judge Beale, estranged from many members of Karen's family having stood by her father's side throughout the entire ordeal.
Judge Beale said while Sarah's support was driven by love, she was his "principal victim".
"Her predicament is an agonising one. Regrettably, the sentence I must pass will add to her grief," he said.
