Phillip Crossthwaite was the one to discover his daughter’s lifeless body after she had been shot dead in her own home.
Close to two decades on, he is relieved Cindy Crossthwaite’s estranged husband Emil “Bill” Petrov has finally been sentenced to 26 years behind bars for her murder.
“Justice has been done and now we can finally get on with our lives again,” Mr Crossthwaite told reporters outside the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday.
“It’s been so hard knowing that he was guilty from the time I found her body … knowing that he could walk around and live a normal lifestyle while we have been suffering.”
Petrov, 61, maintains he did not kill Ms Crossthwaite, 41, at her Melton South home in June 2007, but a jury in December found him guilty of her murder.
They believed the prosecution’s case that either he fired the fatal shot or enlisted another person to do so as part of a “joint criminal enterprise”.
In sentencing, Justice Christopher Beale said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Petrov was the perpetrator.
But the judge said he believed Petrov provided the gun to another person to carry out the killing.
“At the very least, you were a party to the premeditated execution of your estranged wife,” Justice Beale said.
Following their separation in 2005, Petrov and Ms Crossthwaite had been going through Family Court proceedings over property at the time of her death.
The court case was adjourned to July 2007 and prosecutors argued Petrov was aware his financial interests would be adversely affected when the proceedings resumed.
On the morning of June 21, Ms Crossthwaite brought her two older children to primary school before returning to her Melton South home.
Her friend tried to contact her multiple times that day and even attended the property but received no answer.
Phillip Crossthwaite instead went to his daughter’s home about 4pm and let himself inside to find her lifeless body, half-covered with a blanket on the lounge-room floor.
She had been choked and shot in the head from close range, while her 13-month-old baby Jonas was found alive in a bedroom a few metres away.
Petrov was arrested the next day but he told police he had an alibi and he was released without charge.
It was another 12 years before he was arrested again and charged with Ms Crossthwaite’s murder.
Central to the prosecution’s case was witness Brian O’Shea, who avoided a murder charge by testifying against Petrov about providing him with a gun for $3000.
In the months before the murder, Mr O’Shea claimed Petrov said he would kill Cindy and showed him a black wig and dark-coloured clothing inside his car boot.
Justice Beale noted Petrov maintained his innocence and the case was not the worst example of murder but it was aggravated by legal dispute.
The now-convicted killer had been on bail before his verdict and the judge accepted he had not committed any further crimes while out in the community.
Justice Beale found Petrov had good prospects of rehabilitation as he jailed him for 26 years, with a non-parole period of 20 years.
The 61-year-old looked straight ahead as the sentence was read out while members of Ms Crossthwaite’s family hugged and gasped “yes”.
Outside court, Ms Crossthwaite’s daughter Jesmine said she had dreamt of this moment.
“He’s in there for good now, pretty much the rest of his life,” she said.
“But it’s still not enough – for the last 20 years nearly we’ve suffered quite immensely.”
Ms Crossthwaite’s son Jonas, who she had with her partner Daniel Hinds, said there was a sense of relief the ordeal was over.
“But I’m still without my mum so nothing’s going to help me with that,” he said.
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