Overview
- Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz found there was sufficient evidence for a jury to consider the case after rejecting defence applications to dismiss it.
- Marat Ganiev formally pleaded not guilty to the alleged murder of 19-year-old Isla Bell.
- Eyal Yaffe pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
- Prosecutors point to alleged CCTV of an assault, extensive cleaning, and text messages coordinating movement of a fridge that contained Bell’s body, later found at a southeast Melbourne tip.
- Forensic experts could not determine a cause of death due to decomposition and damage, and the defence argues the evidence is circumstantial and a drug overdose cannot be excluded.