Ljube Velevski
New South Wales, Australia
Date of Crime: June 1994
Ljube Velevski was convicted of murdering his wife, Snezana,
his daughter, Zaklina, age 6, and his twin babies, Daniela and Dijana, age 3
months. The throats of all the deceased had been cut. At trial,
Velevski's defence argued that Snezana had killed her three children, then
herself. The killings occurred in a three bedroom suburban house in
Berkeley, Wollongong, New South Wales. Velevski's parents lived with
Velevski and his family at the time of the killings.
On the morning of Sunday, June 19, 1994, Velevski had an
argument with Snezana about her mother refusing to care for their children
while they went shopping. Their daughter, Zaklina, had been staying
with her mother's parents and Velevski then went over to their house,
collected Zaklina, and brought her home. On his return, Snezana said that
“[b]ecause you have taken our daughter from my mother's place, I don't like
your family too so you have to get rid of your parents.” This, Velevski
said, he agreed to do. During the conversation (to which Velevski's
mother was said to be a party), Snezana proposed that she could “go and find
a place and rent it out” (for herself). Snezana then, at about 11
a.m., went into the main bedroom with their the couple's twin babies,
slamming and locking the door behind her.
At about about 1 p.m., Velevski went into Zaklina's bedroom
next to the main bedroom. While there he laid down and fell asleep, and did
not emerge from the room until 17 hours later, which was 6 a.m. the next
morning. By his own account he slept most of the time, and did not
leave it to eat, drink, or even to empty his bladder. At 6 a.m., when
Velevski emerged from the room, he encountered his father. He and his
father tried to open the door to the main bedroom, but could not, because it
was locked. He knocked, but there was no answer.
Even though it was early in the day, and despite having to
waken his mother who had suffered a stroke some years earlier, and was
infirm, Velevski set about moving his parents from his home at once. Moving his parents required two trips to his sister's house but it seems his
parents accompanied him on both. At about 8:30 a.m., Velevski finally
dropped his parents off at his sister's house which was about half an hour
away from his house. He then returned home.
At about 10:30 a.m., he went to the Macedonian welfare centre
to seek advice. During that visit he told a social worker that he had
“family problems, marriage problems” and that he thought it was “because we
live with my parents and she doesn't like it”. In addition, he said that his
mother-in-law “gets very much involved in our marriage.” Velevski told
the social worker several times that he could not get “inside the house” but
later made reference to some indoor “latches.” The social worker asked
whether he had checked if Zaklina was at school or had checked Snezana's
whereabouts with his mother-in-law. He said he had not and that he did not
have a telephone number for his parents-in-law.
Soon afterwards he went to Zaklina's school, even though he
had seen Zaklina's school bag in the house. He asked if she was in school,
and gave officials a note he had found in her bag regarding being absent
from school the previous Friday. He then went home and stayed there
for three hours, without trying to speak to his wife.
At about 3:30 p.m., he spoke to neighbours, one of whom called
police. Police came to the house and broke into the main bedroom soon
after 4 p.m. There they found the dead bodies of Snezana and her three
children in the space between the edge of the main bed and the cot where the
twins usually slept. Snezana's body laid on top of the bodies of the
children. A kitchen knife was found under her body. The deaths were
believed to have occurred between 9 p.m. the previous night and 5 a.m. that
morning. Velevski had heard no commotion from the main bedroom while
he was sleeping in the room next to it. Nor had his parents, although
their bedroom was down a corridor from the other two bedrooms.
At Velevski's trial, medical experts disagreed on whether
Snezana committed suicide or was murdered. It was assumed that the
person responsible for Snezana's death had also murdered the children. There was no evidence of any struggle and blood evidence was confined to a
small area of the bedroom close to the floor. There was no trace of
blood anywhere else in the house. Evidence indicated Snezana and the
children's bodies were moved or turned after Snezana left a significant pool
of blood from herself. Snezana could be responsible for these
movements, but if one presumes Snezana was incapacitated at this time, then
someone else had to have moved the bodies. Medical testimony failed to
prove that Snezana would have been incapacitated. A locksmith gave
evidence that the door to the bedroom could be unlocked from outside the
room and the door closed from the outside in such a way as to leave the door
locked.
Velevski's claim that he slept more or less for 17 hours is
suspicious, but since the latter half of this period was after dusk, he may
have remained in bed simply because it was night. His claim, though,
is irrelevant in the determination of guilt as the burden of proof rests
with the prosecution.
For the most part, the evidence is inconclusive as to whether Velevski or
Szenana were responsible for the deaths. However, Velevski's behavior on
the morning following the deaths appears consistent only with his innocence.
This behavior indicated he believed Snezana was alive and he wanted to end
his dispute with her. In compliance with Snezana's wishes, he moved his
parents to his sister's house and he sought counseling in regard to the
dispute. He seemed confused about where Zaklina was, and in response to his
counselor's suggestion he checked whether she was at school. It appears
unlikely that an actual killer would perform such actions in an attempt at a
cover-up. In 2002, Velevski appealed his conviction to the Australian High
Court, but his appeal was denied.
[8/09]
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References:
Velevski
v. the Queen, Networked
Knowledge
Posted in:
Victims of the State, Australia/New Zealand Cases,
Quadruple Homicide Cases
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