An expert can’t determine how a young woman died because her body was crushed in a garbage truck six weeks after she was allegedly murdered, a court has heard.
Marat Ganiev, 53, is accused of killing Isla Bell on 7 October, 2024, three days after the 19-year-old, who grew up in the Dandenong Ranges, was last seen leaving her Brunswick home in Melbourne’s north.
Her remains were found at a rubbish tip in the city’s southeast on 19 November.
Ganiev faced Melbourne Magistrates Court via video link on Monday 6 October, listening through an interpreter for the start of his committal hearing.
Eyal Yaffe, 58, who allegedly helped him dispose of Ms Bell’s body, also fronted court charged with assisting an offender.
Ganiev is accused of murdering Ms Bell before 2am on 7 October, with CCTV allegedly showing him striking the teen in the kitchen of his St Kilda East apartment.
Prosecutors allege he spent two days cleaning his home before Yaffe came over towing a trailer carrying a black fridge.
The pair was allegedly seen removing a different fridge wrapped in plastic onto the back of the trailer on 17 October.
Yaffe is accused of driving the fridge to a Caulfield South address, while police say Ganiev then moved the appliance multiple times over the course of two weeks.
Ganiev allegedly left the fridge concealed behind other items in a removalist van on 30 October, with another resident locating the appliance on 18 November.
The man found a bag inside after smelling a foul odour and threw it in the bin, believing it was a dead animal.
Ms Bell’s remains were discovered in the Dandenong rubbish facility the next day after her disappearance sparked an emotional missing-person appeal from her family.
Forensic pathologist Hans de Boer told the court on Monday he performed Ms Bell’s autopsy but was unable to determine her cause of death due to the advanced state of decomposition.
There was evidence of injuries, including lacerations and fractures, but the expert said he could not ascertain if they occurred shortly before death, at the time of death or later on.
When defence barrister Ian Hill KC asked if all of the injuries could have been caused by the compactor in the rubbish truck, Dr de Boer replied: “Absolutely, yes”.
Forensic anthropologist Samantha Rowbotham, who also analysed Ms Bell’s remains, told the court the injuries happened at or near the point of death, but she could not be more specific about timing.
She said she had not been informed Ms Bell’s body was compacted in the rubbish truck before the remains were discovered.
Toxicology reports showed the presence of prescription medication and illicit drugs including MDMA in Ms Bell’s system at the time of her death, the court heard.
The committal hearing will continue on Tuesday 7 October.
