An abusive husband who strangled his estranged wife and then hid her body in a basement will spend at least 17 years behind bars.
Zoran Pandilovski, 48, learned his fate in Melbourne’s Supreme Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to the murder of his wife Elaine, 44.
The couple’s 12-year-old son was sleeping over at his grandmother’s house when Pandilovski visited their former family home in Melbourne’s northeast on July 14, 2020.
He walked into the Mill Park property at 7.45am and left less than two hours later.
“At 9.25am you drive away, by which time Elaine was dead having been choked to death by you,” Justice Christopher Beale told the court on Wednesday.
He said Pandilovski choked Elaine for “tens of seconds” and then moved her body to a storage room inside the basement of the home.
Pandilovski claimed this was to ensure their son, who has autism, did not arrive home to find his mother’s lifeless body.
He got into his car and drove down the Western Ring Road and collided with another car, injuring two people.
“Remarkably no one was killed,” Justice Beale said.
When Elaine did not show up for work, concerned colleagues went to her house and then her mother’s, but no one could find her.
Police located her later that evening in the basement.
Justice Beale jailed Pandilovski for up to 24 years and he must serve at least 17 years before he will be eligible for parole.
He has already served about three years of that sentence.
“The way she died would’ve been terrifying,” the judge said.
Pandilovski’s eyes watered and he grabbed a tissue as he was escorted out of the court dock by custody officers.
Elaine’s family could be heard crying upon hearing his sentence.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
