The man accused of murdering Karen Chetcuti Verbunt has pleaded not guilty to the violent crime, instead pointing the finger at an acquaintance police say helped him destroy the Whorouly woman’s car.
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Michael Cardamone, 49, allegedly assaulted and burned the victim alive on January 12, 2016 and faced day two of a committal hearing at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Magistrate John Murphy committed Cardamone to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
”I’d like to offer my deepest sympathies to the family friends and work colleagues of Karen,” he said.
”May her spirit guide you.”
The court had previously heard Edward George was with Cardamone when Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s red Citroen was set alight, but claimed he thought he was helping settle a disagreement with a drug dealer, not cover up a murder.
It has now been revealed Cardamone told police Mr George was responsible for the crime.
Defence barrister Patrick Tehan focused many of his questions around the alternative suspect in contrast to what he called a police “theory” on Cardamone.
Detective Sergeant Jason Wallace said a second sample of Mr George’s DNA was taken on Monday, after the first sample expired after 12 months, and would be compared to crime scene evidence, but he could not comment on those forensics until they were analysed.
He said CCTV showed Mr George was in Myrtleford when Ms Chetcuti Verbunt was last seen in Whorouly.
“All the phone records relating to Edward George … Edward George is in Myrtleford, by cell tower locations, at all times.”
‘COULDN’T STOP CRYING’
Mr George was “in hysterics” after helping to burn Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s car, according to the friend he turned to for comfort.
Bradley Ladgrove said the man came to his house the evening of January 15, distressed and with visible burns to his face from helping set fire to the red Citroen.
“He couldn’t stop shaking, he couldn’t stop crying,” he said.
“He was just petrified, he plainly couldn’t sit still.”
In evidence to the court on Wednesday, Mr George denied telling Mr Ladgrove he was “going away for life” because he had been set up and that Cardamone “would do him too” if he did not follow the plan.
INCONCLUSIVE FORENSICS
When police walked into the garage at Cardamone’s Whorouly home in the days following the crime, they found blood stains smeared on foam boxes and a rolled up blind.
But who that blood belonged to has not been revealed to the court.
Witnesses previously gave evidence they saw his car drive from Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s property to his nearby home on the night she disappeared.
Police examined the accused man’s house, shed and cars – as well as the victim’s home – and seized a stained cloth, syringe and white powder from one of Cardamone’s cars.
Ms Chetcuti Verbunt's body was found down a track off Croppers Creek Road near Lake Buffalo on January 17 with duct tape wrapped five times around her neck, plus two cable ties.
Mr Tehan said Cardamone’s DNA was not found on the cable ties or rope, and the blood found on shorts seized from his home belonged to him, not Ms Chetcuti Verbunt.
“There seems to be nothing of interest to link the accused to the deceased,” he said.
Senior Constable Steven Drummond told the court that while Cardamone or Ms Chetcuti Verbunt possessed all these types of items, none exactly matched the brands and sizes at the crime scene.
Crime scene police examined partial tyre marks 80 metres from where Ms Chetcuti Verbunt's body was found, which had similar characteristics to the red Citroen, but Senior Constable Drummond said he could not conclude if it was the same car or not.
“The track was very dusty and not conducive to very clear impressions at all,” he said.
Police did find a section of burned floor matting in a blackberry bush, which appeared to be the same as in the Citroen, and sent it off for chemical analysis.
Detective Sergeant Wallace said Cardamone’s fingerprints were found on a can of tomatoes in Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s fridge.
“We’re still testing a lot of the forensic stuff,” he said.
“We’re waiting on a lot of DNA evidence.”
TALK OF DEATH
Farm worker Larn Douangphosay had been living with Cardamone for a week when Ms Chetcuti Verbunt went missing.
He told the court Cardamone’s mother had come looking for him about 9.30pm on January 12, the time other witnesses said they saw a car come back to the property.
The next day, Mr Douangphosay noticed Cardamone had cleaned the car.
“He said something like ‘if that lady happened to be dead around here, she’d be rotten by now because it’s a hot day’,” he said.
He said Cardamone also told him he had served jail time alongside Jill Meagher’s murderer and if it was not for his mother, he would kill again to go back into custody.
“I’m not lying, that’s the conversation I had with him,” Mr Douangphosay said.
HEARTBROKEN FAMILY AND FRIENDS
The family of Ms Chetcuti Verbunt have been left disappointed, but not surprised by the “not guilty” plea at the end of this week’s committal hearing.
Sister Leny Verbunt was in tears outside Wangaratta Courthouse on Thursday.
“For the sake of my elderly mother, I just wish he had pleaded guilty today because (a trial) will been very difficult,” she said.
“I knew many of the details (of the violent death), but not all of them … It’s actually the most horrible death I’ve ever heard of in my life. How can someone do all those things to somebody?”
Ms Verbunt said she tried to make eye contact with Cardamone in the courtroom, but he looked away.
Friend Carol Roadknight, who has been campaigning for an end to violence with her “enough is enough” campaign, said friends were all heartbroken for anyone who knew Ms Chetcuti Verbunt.
“It’s a long road ahead still, we won’t have closure for a while,” she said.
“Just what a brave woman she was - a great friend, a great mother.”
Ms Chetcuti Verbunt’s former husband Tony Chetcuti also said it had been a very hard two days.
