Victoria
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Victoria News

Stepson of Karen Ristevski urges her killer to 'man up and confess'

The stepson of slain Melbourne mother Karen Ristevski has urged her killer to "man up", come forward and "confess" to the crime.

"It's only a matter of time before you are spending a long time behind bars," Anthony Rickard wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

Up Next

DFO crash: floral tribute for victims

null
Video duration
02:01

More Victoria News Videos

null
Video duration
01:49

Karen Ristevski case: where to now?
null
Video duration
02:01

DFO crash: floral tribute for victims
null
Video duration
01:04

DFO crash: Pilot's family speak
null
Video duration
00:21

Man shot in Airport West
null
Video duration
00:32

Grant Hackett to seek help
null
Video duration
01:24

Guilty plea after dogwalker dies
More videos

Karen Ristevski case: where to now?

The Age's crime writer John Silvester talks about the fate of Melbourne mother Karen Ristevski, who disappeared seven months ago.

Mr Rickard urged the killer to "stop inflicting pain" on Ms Ristevski's 21-year-old daughter Sarah.

"Show that you are not a complete coward," he wrote.

In another dramatic twist in the baffling case of Ms Ristevski's disappearance and death, Mr Rickard also commented on his relationship with his stepmother.

"As much as u have hurt me karen I would never wish any harm to you," he wrote.

Advertisement

"God bless u Karen I forgive u for all the pain," he wrote.

In a later post he wrote: "The only person who showed me true love and will always have a place for u in my heart u were my one true soulmate."

Mr Rickard's comments came one day after police confirmed that a body found in bushland at the base of Mount Macedon on Monday was that of his stepmother.

Ms Ristevski had not been seen alive since June 29, 2016. Her disappearance and the almost eight-month search for her body has held the attention of the Victorian community for months.

Meanwhile, it emerged on Wednesday that police consider Ms Ristevski's husband, Borce Ristevski, to be the "number one suspect" for her death.

Leading criminal lawyer Rob Stary, who is advising Mr Ristevski, told Fairfax Media "it was pretty clear" his client was a suspect.

Homicide squad detectives visited the Ristevskis' house late on Tuesday afternoon and told the family that forensic testing had confirmed a body found in Mount Macedon the previous day was that of Ms Ristevski.

On Tuesday night, Mr Ristevski and family members hatched a plan for him to leave the family home and avoid scrutiny from the large media scrum outside, as family members delivered McDonald's.

The Age has been told that Mr Ristevski and several other family members wept after hearing the news that the body was that of his wife.

As a stream of well-wishers comforted the couple's daughter Sarah in their Avondale Heights home on Wednesday morning, Mr Ristevski met Mr Stary in the city seeking guidance on what the discovery could mean to the investigation.

"Obviously his wife has been found and there's an autopsy report been completed, he wants to see what that could mean," Mr Stary said.

Back in Avondale Heights, strangers left bouquets of flowers at the front gate, as Sarah's friends rallied around her inside.

Mr Ristevski has told police his wife left their house on the morning of June 29 last year and hadn't been seen since.

Ms Ristevski's aunt Patricia Gray, who made the family's final public appeal for information last year, and her cousin Lisa Gray paid tribute to Ms Ristevski and vowed to help find her killer.

"How a person such as Karen, so full of love, life and laughter, could be left, abandoned, discarded with no thought or emotion shown is unforgivable," Ms Gray said.

with Tammy Mills