Coroner rules pregnant wife was murdered, not victim of gym accident
A pregnant woman who was found dead at her Preston home with a makeshift gym barbell crushing her neck was murdered, the coroner has ruled.
On Thursday, State Coroner Sara Hinchey found that Snezana Stojanovska, 26 – who was three months pregnant at the time – was the victim of homicide by strangulation.
No charges have ever been laid.
The only other people home at the time of Ms Stojanovska’s death were those she shared the property with – her husband Draski Stojanovski, his mother Pisana Stojanovska and his brother Vasko Stojanovski.
‘‘In forming the belief, on the balance of probabilities, that Ms Stojanovska’s death was the result of a homicide, I make no finding as to criminality on the part of Mr Stojanovski, Vasko or Pisana,’’ Judge Hinchey said.
‘‘I note that the evidence indicates that Mr Stojanovski, Vasko and Pisana were the only persons present in the house at the time of Ms Stojanovska’s death and that there was no evidence of forced entry to the house.
‘‘I accept that there is insufficient evidence before me to find to the coronial standard which of Mr Stojanovski, Vasko and/or Pisana caused Ms Stojanovska’s death.’’
In her findings the coroner found that that the brusing to Ms Stojanovska’s face and neck was consistent with manual strangulation, not with her throat being crushed by a barbell.
On July 17, Judge Hinchey began a three-day inquest into Ms Stojanovska’s death. Six witnesses gave evidence at the inquest, which examined the cause and time of Ms Stojanovska’s death, the chronology of events leading to her death and the identity of any person involved.
Ms Stojanovska, 26, was found dead by her husband on a makeshift bench press with a barbell across her neck in the family’s garage on November 28, 2010.
Vasko Stojanovski telephoned emergency services and Pisana Stojanovska removed the barbell from her daughter-in-law's neck.
Injuries identified during a post-mortem examination led homicide detectives to believe that Ms Stojanovska was manually strangled.
Despite a comprehensive investigation into Ms Stojanovska’s death, no person or persons have been charged with an indictable offence in respect of the death.
The coroner has since referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.