Pair charged over Isla Bell’s death push for their charges to be dropped

Two men charged after the body of 19-year-old Brunswick woman Isla Bell was found at a Dandenong tip want the case against them dismissed.

Police allege Marat Ganiev, 54, murdered Bell at his St Kilda East home on October 7 last year and that Eyal Yaffe, 58, helped dispose of the young woman’s body, sealed inside a fridge.

The preliminary hearing was told new details about the case, including that Ganiev told police he had hidden Bell’s body in the fridge and moved it into his front yard, and that Yaffe was captured on CCTV assisting with dropping off and collecting the fridge, but maintains it was sealed with plastic at all times and he never opened it.

Prosecutors argued it was clear Bell “met the end of her life” inside Ganiev’s apartment.

But both defence teams argued in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday that the case against Ganiev and Yaffe was entirely circumstantial and there was not enough evidence for the pair to face trial.

Sally Flynn, KC, for Ganiev, said forensic testing of her client’s house had failed to detect any blood.

“The prosecution cannot establish that Ganiev’s actions caused her death,” Flynn said.

“There is a competing reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence that cannot be rationally excluded.”

The court heard it was agreed that Bell arrived at Ganiev’s house for the first time about midnight on October 5, 2024, before her phone was switched off two days later. She was never seen leaving the apartment.

When neighbours complained of a smell, Ganiev allegedly attributed it to possums.

Yaffe was seen on CCTV delivering a fridge to the St Kilda East address late on October 9 before returning eight days later, wearing gloves, to help remove another left outside.

He then drove it to Newstead Street in Caulfield South, before it was later moved by Ganiev to properties at Hampton, Bentleigh East and Mulgrave.

On November 18 – six weeks after Bell was allegedly killed – her remains were collected by a rubbish truck and found at a Dandenong tip.

Yaffe’s barrister, Ian Hill, KC, said Bell had a dangerous cocktail of drugs in her system and she could have died from an overdose.

Forensic experts had previously told the court that Bell had extensive skeletal fractures and cuts including blunt-force or compression-type injuries to her skull and eight ribs.

But because of the length of time before her body was discovered, they could not determine the time or cause of death and could not say whether her injuries were caused at the time of her death or while her body was being moved around the suburbs.

Ganiev is charged with murder and Yaffe with assisting an offender and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The case will return to court later this month when magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz will decide if the men are committed to stand trial.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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