Posted: 13:23, July 14, 2022 | Updated: 13:35, 14 July 2022
A father who slashed the throats of his wife and children before piling their bodies inside their family home in a crime described as the “worst imaginable” has been freed from prison after serving a life sentence.
Ljube Veleski brutally slaughtered his partner Snezana, six-year-old daughter Zaklina and newborn twins Daniel and Dijana in their Wollongong home in 1994.
He was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years behind bars – which ended on Thursday meaning the 57-year-old is now free.
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said despite the nature of Velevski’s past, he has undergone a high-risk offender assessment and can return to the public.
“The offender will have served 25 years in prison, which is the full term of his sentence, and as such, he will be legally entitled to full freedom,” Mr Speakman said.
Ljube Veleski (right) brutally slaughtered his partner Snezana, six-year-old daughter Zaklina and their newborn twins Daniel and Dijana at their Wollongong home in 1994
Velevski claims his wife Snezana locked herself in the bedroom and committed a murder-suicide
On June 20, 1994, police found the bodies of Velevsky’s family with their throats open stacked on top of each other inside their Berkeley home in the city’s southern suburbs.
The father initially told police that he had not seen his family since the night before and that his wife had taken their children into a room and locked the door.
Officers broke into the bedroom and found the bodies piled between a bed and a cot.
Velevsky denied murdering them, claiming he slept in his daughter’s room for 17 straight hours before police found their bodies.
He was found guilty after an eight-week trial in 1997 – with a jury sentencing him to 25 years in prison on four counts of murder.
Prosecutors believe he killed them after his wife threatened to leave him.
On June 20, 1994, police found the bodies of Velevski’s family with their throats cut stacked on top of each other inside their home in Berkeley in the city’s southern suburbs
One of the key pieces of evidence in the trial proved that Velevsky killed his family, not his wife.
Six coroners attended the crime scene, with three determining the father killed his family, while two said it was his partner.
Mendo Josifovski, his wife’s brother, said the judge’s decision was “a joke” and “too lenient” after sentencing him to 19 years without parole.
Velevski tried to overturn the conviction in the NSW Supreme Court in 1999, but was dismissed.
“The conviction should be quashed … the jury should have had a reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s guilt,” Judge David Kirby said at the time.
“There is, in my belief, a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted.”
Wife Snezana (left) and six-year-old Zaklina (right) brutally murdered by Velevski inside their Wollongong home in 1994
Newborn twins Daniel and Dijana also had their throats slit by their father – with prosecutors arguing he committed the murders after his wife threatened to leave them
The court heard evidence that Snezana suffered from postnatal depression and that her family had a history of mental health problems, but her obstetrician told her she was “the exact opposite” of that description.
The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court where it was also dismissed.
On Thursday, Mr Speakman said that despite Velevski having committed the “worst imaginable” crime, he had served his time and there was no chance of extended supervision or a continuing detention order.
The NSW State Parole Authority refused him conditional release in May 2016 because he “had not participated in any program to address his violent offending”.
His wife’s family was told only by reporters that Velevsky was to be released on Thursday.
They said they were not happy and had no idea where he might be living.
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said despite the nature of Velevski’s past, he has undergone a high-risk offender assessment and is eligible to return to society
