Irma Palasics was 72 when she died on 6 November 1999. Photo: Supplied.
Twenty-five years ago, Gregor Palasics managed to free himself from his bindings before he found his wife Irma lying in their hallway with blood over her face after two men had broken in, tied them up and ransacked their home.
“Come on, come on. Get up, get up,” he told her.
But the 72-year-old didn’t answer, and he knew she was dead, jurors heard on Tuesday (17 February) when an ACT Supreme Court trial began against the two men accused of murdering her.
The start of the trial revealed new information in the case against 70-year-olds Steve Fabriczy and Joseph Vekony, including details of the alleged murder, the undercover investigation and an admission that one of the men had been present that night.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to murder, but Mr Fabriczy admitted he had gone to the Palasics’ home in McKellar to burgle it on 6 November 1999, the night Irma died.
Prosecutor Trent Hickey, during his opening submissions, said Gregor and Irma were at home watching television when Gregor saw two balaclava-clad men appear in the room and rush towards them.
Gregor said one of the men jumped at him “like a tiger”, hit him in the face and tied him up, causing him to lose sight of his wife, although he could hear her screams.
Mr Hickey said Gregor then lay on the floor listening to his home being ransacked. Some time after the noises stopped, he managed to free himself and discovered his wife in the hallway – and that $30,000-worth of cash and jewellery had been stolen from a hidden compartment in their kitchen.
“Somebody break in, somebody kill my wife,” Gregor was recorded saying on a Triple Zero call.
The prosecutor said Irma was covered in bruises and had a broken nose. A pathologist who reviewed the autopsy thought her airway had been obstructed due to inhaled blood, which had the potential to cause her death, particularly if she was constrained.
Gregor died of unrelated causes in 2004, and it was not until 2019 that a DNA swab taken from a milk jug in the Palasics’ fridge that night was potentially linked to Mr Fabriczy.
Mr Hickey said this unconfirmed link kicked off an undercover investigation into Mr Fabriczy, in which police officers pretended to be members of a criminal syndicate when speaking to him.
He said this fake syndicate told him he was a suspect in the 1999 burglary and promised to make the connection disappear as they had an operative in the police force.
The prosecutor alleged that during these discussions with undercover police, Mr Fabriczy admitted going to the home to burgle it, but claimed he waited outside while a man called ‘Joe’ broke in.
“It’s a burglary that went the wrong way, know what I mean?” Mr Fabriczy allegedly said.
Steve Fabriczy (left) and Joseph Vekony have pleaded not guilty to murder in their trial. Photos: ACT Policing.
Barrister Skye Jerome told jurors they would hear how her client, Mr Fabriczy, claimed Mr Vekony had asked him to go from Melbourne to Canberra to steal money from a couple’s home in 1999, but he stayed outside while Mr Vekony went in.
She said the only time he went inside was when Mr Vekony injured himself in the bathroom and he went to help him get out, then he later asked what happened when they were driving away.
“Mr Vekony told him, ‘They’re alright, don’t worry’,” Ms Jerome claimed.
“As unpalatable as it may appear, ladies and gentlemen, Steve Fabriczy says he drove to Canberra with Mr Vekony to steal cash from the old couple’s house, not to murder either of them.
“He was a lookout for a burglary, which he understood was committed by Mr Vekony.”
Mr Hickey told jurors the 1999 incident was actually the third time the Palasics were burgled.
In June 1997, someone broke in and stole about $1200 cash hidden in locked boxes and a biscuit tin when the couple lived in Red Hill, although no one was ever arrested.
Then, in October 1998, Irma was at home when a balaclava-clad man rushed out of her garage, ran at her and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground before punching her again and warning her not to scream. She pulled off his balaclava before he, and a second man who came out of the house, fled.
Mr Hickey claimed in 2024 that advancements in DNA testing linked Mr Vekony to a water container from the Palascis’ fridge in 1999, as well as to the balaclava from 1998.
But Mr Vekony’s barrister, Travis Jackson, said his client voted in the 6 November 1999 referendum in Melbourne, so he questioned whether he had time to drive up to Canberra to commit the burglary that night.
He said Irma described the person with the balaclava from the 1998 burglary as having an Australian accent and blonde hair, while his client had “a thick Eastern European accent”.
Also, when questioning the DNA evidence in the case, Mr Jackson said, “This is not CSI. DNA is far more complex than the shows put”.
Mr Fabriczy pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, but not guilty to other charges, including murder, while Mr Vekony pleaded not guilty to charges that included murder and two counts of burglary.
Fifteen jurors were empanelled for the trial. It is expected to run for three to six weeks before Justice David Mossop.
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