Esther Maree Vella had a $700,000 debt on her Strathfield property which she was determined to be rid of.
She concocted a plan in which her long-suffering partner, Peter Siskos, would increase his life insurance to $1.7M, name her as the sole beneficiary and then commit suicide.
The plan backfired spectacularly when Siskos, a 49-year-old security guard "chickened out" of throwing himself in front of a train at Croydon. Instead, he disappeared from work and slept rough for a week-and-a-half until he was spotted in a Burwood Park. Several people then came forward to police to say Vella, a 51-year-old school teacher and boarding house owner, had let slip details about the macabre plan.
One of Vella's tenants, Tony Appleby, went to police and confessed to helping Vella destroy incriminating evidence. He agreed to meet Vella wearing a listening device and police recorded a conversation in which they discussed suicide involving a train, destruction of incriminating evidence and her lost opportunity to claim an insurance payout.
Vella and Siskos were charged under the common law of conspiring with each other to defraud an insurance company, OnePath.
The Crown case was that Vella and Siskos deliberately omitted to inform OnePath of Siskos' intention to commit suicide, despite knowing they had a duty of disclosure when taking out the policy.
The couple pleaded not guilty, the case was proven beyond a reasonable doubt and they were convicted by a District Court jury.
Vella was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' jail with a non-parole period of four years and nine months, while Siskos was imprisoned for two-and-a-half years with a non-parole period of 15 months.
Vella and Siskos appealed their convictions and sentences. The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeals, noting the case was "extremely unusual".
*** Read the original article here ***
*** Read the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal here ***