Article courtesy of The Canberra Times – view online here.
A man has denied brutally killing a Canberra grandmother in 1999 after being hit with numerous charges relating to the alleged home invasion that led to her death.
Steve Fabriczy, 68, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, when his voice was heard for the first time since his arrest.
“Yes sir. I can see you sir,” the man responded via audio-visual link when asked if he could see the court, which was filled with the alleged victim’s family.
The alleged offender pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, which was laid in September after he was extradited from Victoria.
Several fresh charges were also laid against Fabriczy on Thursday, including armed robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and unlawfully confining a person.
Magistrate Robert Cook said Fabriczy was being charged with robbing possessions and cash amounting to $30,000 on November 6, 1999.
Mr Cook also said the alleged offender was accused of committing the crimes with an offensive weapon, being a “solid cylindrical object” that was 30 to 50 centimetres long and five centimetres in diameter.
No pleas to the fresh charges were entered.
Police have been hunting for the two people who broke into the McKellar home of 73-year-old Irma Palasics and husband Gregor almost 24 years ago.
It’s alleged the elderly couple were bound with cable ties and viciously beaten as their home was ransacked, with cash and jewellery stolen.
Mr Palasics survived but by the time his wife’s bindings were removed about an hour later, she had passed away.
In September, the Dandenong Magistrates Court in Victoria heard Fabriczy had previously made “a number of admissions to his involvement in that incident” to police.
“Not a full confession, your honour,” Australian Federal Police Detective Sergeant Craig Marriott said while giving evidence.
“But he admitted being in the premises. He admitted being there for the purposes of burglary.
“He gave details of that incident we say would only be known to a person who was involved in the incident.”
Fabriczy denied being party to any type of assault.
The cold case investigation heated up in 2019 when a DNA match was made to Fabriczy through the National Crime Investigation DNA Database, making him a suspect.
Last month, the Melbourne man consented to having his DNA collected by investigators.
The second person of interest in the case remains unknown and at large.