Husband on murder count

John Bergamin, 45, of Cheshunt, was arrested at 11.40am yesterday and taken by homicide squad detectives to the Myrtleford police station.

At 2.30pm he was walked into Myrtleford Court handcuffed and dressed in his dirty farm work clothes and a cap.

He was flanked by two uniformed police and three detectives from the homicide squad in Melbourne.

Mr Bergamin was charged with the murder of his wife and no application for bail was made by duty solicitor Paul Hickey.

No family members were in the court for Mr Bergamin’s brief appearance.

Despite the arrest, the body of Mrs Bergamin has not been found.

Mr Bergamin was remanded in custody and taken back to the Wangaratta police station.

Mrs Bergamin, 37, disappeared on August 18, 2002.

Police believe she was forcibly taken from her Brien Crescent home at Wangaratta.

Her disappearance was treated as suspicious immediately because she took no personal belongings and has not accessed her bank account or contacted family or friends since.

Since her disappearance, homicide squad detectives have searched a Cheshunt farm and bushland at Cheshunt South for her body.

Divers have also searched the King River near Docker but have not found her body.

Victoria Police were successful in an application for compulsory DNA testing on two people thought to be connected to her disappearance.

Homicide squad detective Sgt Shane Brundell was at Myrtleford yesterday for the court appearance.

He said no property had been seized during the arrest and said no searches had been planned to locate the body of Mrs Bergamin.

“This will not happen unless people come forward with information as a result of the arrest,” he said.

“Maybe someone will see that a threat to them has gone with this arrest and come forward.”

Police have been requested to prepare a brief of evidence by June 2.

The case was adjourned and Mr Bergamin was ordered to appear in Wangaratta court on August 3.