Man who murdered his wife in Northcote garage jailed for 24 years

A murderer who lay in wait for his wife to arrive at their home’s garage before killing her with a metal car ramp will spend more than two decades behind bars.

Joe Lo Bianco appeared at Victoria’s Supreme Court on Thursday and was sentenced to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years and six months.

His wife, Kaliopi Roumeliotis, had just stepped out of her car at their inner-Melbourne home on November 30, 2022, when Lo Bianco struck her repeatedly to the head and neck with the ramp.

He left her body on the garage floor, placing the murder weapon under her head to stage an accidental death, before removing and hiding his bloodied clothes.

Lo Bianco went next door to chat to his in-laws for close to an hour while he waited for his daughter to be dropped off after a friend’s birthday party.

When the girl arrived, she asked after her mother and suggested she could be in the garage.

Lo Bianco then told his daughter to go inside and see if she was there.

The young girl, named in court under the pseudonym Sally, found her mother’s dead body, with blood covering the floor, car and walls.

Sally ran next door, begging for help from her uncle and aunt, who came and started performing CPR while Lo Bianco called triple zero.

Paramedics confirmed Roumeliotis was already dead.

Justice Amanda Fox told the court that no sentence she imposed could make up for Roumeliotis’ “priceless” life.

“She is dearly missed by everyone who loved her,” she said.

Fox said Lo Bianco’s act of leading his daughter to the site of her mother’s body was a “deeply aggravating aspect to [his] offending”.

She also noted his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccination had led to tension and arguments about finances in the period before the murder.

Days before her death, Roumeliotis told a friend she was frustrated and “had reached saturation point”.

Lo Bianco, who has been in custody since 2022, initially told police his wife must have tripped and fallen, claiming he had no involvement in her death because he was in the backyard cleaning a rabbit enclosure.

The 53-year-old later admitted what happened and pleaded guilty to murder in the Supreme Court in September.

AAP

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