A man accused of killing a 19-year-old woman whose body was found in a tip has had murder and manslaughter charges against him dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Marat Ganiev, 55, was accused of killing Isla Bell in the early hours of October 7, 2024, before hiding her body in a fridge.
Her remains were found at a rubbish tip in Melbourne’s southeast six weeks later.
Ganiev was originally charged with murder but that was downgraded to manslaughter as the case entered the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams on Tuesday told the court the manslaughter charge against Ganiev had also been withdrawn.
Outside court, Ms Bell’s mother Justine Spokes could barely contain her disgust at the outcome, branding it a ‘legal system, not a justice system’.
‘Let the jury decide,’ she told reporters.
Ganiev will instead be charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, with a fresh indictment expected to be filed later on Tuesday.
Isla Bell (pictured) was last seen leaving her Brunswick home, in Melbourne’s inner city, about 6pm on October 4, 2024. Her remains were found at a tip six weeks later
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Isla Bell (pictured) was last seen leaving her Brunswick home, in Melbourne’s inner city, about 6pm on October 4, 2024. Her remains were found at a tip six weeks later
Marat Ganiev, 55, was accused of killing Isla Bell in the early hours of October 7, 2024
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Marat Ganiev, 55, was accused of killing Isla Bell in the early hours of October 7, 2024
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A new trial date is yet to be set but a summary of the allegations relating to the new charge will be served to defence within the next fortnight.
Eyal Yaffe, 59, was also originally accused of assisting an offender and attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to Ms Bell’s death.
Mr McWilliams on Tuesday also confirmed Yaffe’s charges would be discontinued.
Yaffe declined to comment as he used crutches to walk out of court a free man.
A spokeswoman for the Office of Public Prosecutions confirmed the charges had been withdrawn due to ‘insufficient evidence’ to support the offences.
Last October, Daily Mail reported detectives had hit a major roadblock in proving the case against the men.
During that hearing, the court heard Ms Bell’s body was so damaged inside a garbage truck that authorities had not been able to determine how she died.
Forensic pathologist Hans De Boer told the court experts could not determine how Ms Bell died due to severe decomposition and damage caused by the garbage truck that dumped her body at the tip.
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Yaffe (pictured) was accused of helping conceal Isla Bell’s death. All charges against both men have now been dropped
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Yaffe (pictured) was accused of helping conceal Isla Bell’s death. All charges against both men have now been dropped
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New heartbreak for Isla Bell’s family after she was allegedly murdered and left at a tip for weeks
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Detectives had alleged Yaffe became involved after receiving a call from Ganiev the day after Ms Bell’s death.
The following day, he was alleged to have driven to Ganiev’s St Kilda East apartment and dropped off a new black fridge, returning on October 17 to remove the old one wrapped in plastic.
That fridge was later found to have contained Ms Bell’s battered remains.
‘It’s not possible to exclude that all injuries were sustained postmortem,’ Dr De Boer said.
Under cross examination by Mr Yaffe’s barrister Ian Hill, KC, the court heard the doctor could find no evidence Ms Bell had been strangled to death.
During a bail application for Yaffe in 2024, the court heard police believed snippets of Ms Bell’s suspected murder had been captured on CCTV.
Homicide Squad detectives allege a camera outside Ganiev’s St Kilda East apartment complex captured what appeared to be him attacking Ms Bell.
Ms Bell’s mum Justine Spokes addressed the media upon her daughter’s death in 2024
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Ms Bell’s mum Justine Spokes addressed the media upon her daughter’s death in 2024
Cameras recorded Ms Bell entering his apartment at 9.27pm on October 5, but police had alleged she never left alive.
From a gap in the front kitchen window, police had alleged Ms Bell’s head could be seen ‘whipping around’ as she was struck by Ganiev.
‘She falls to the ground and Ganiev can then be seen striking her on the ground of the kitchen,’ court documents stated.
‘What appears to be Bell’s head can be seen rising up before being pushed back down by Ganiev’s arm.’
The footage allegedly captured Ms Bell alive between 12.43am and 2am when she vanished from sight.
Police alleged Ganiev went to work cleaning the apartment over the following days.
Ms Bell had moved in with Ganiev just two days earlier – a day after her worried mother reported Ms Bell missing to police.
During a bail hearing, the court heard Ms Bell had thought she had found the man of her dreams in the days before she died.
Isla Bell’s body was badly decomposed by the time police found it
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Isla Bell’s body was badly decomposed by the time police found it
Police alleged Ms Bell texted her friend just hours before her death expressing her happiness.
In a Snapchat post sent on October 7, Ms Bell told her friend that she had ‘found the best sugar daddy’, court documents stated.
Ms Bell told her friend a ‘sugar daddy’ had lavished her with gifts and ‘saved her from sex traffickers’.
The court heard Ms Bell had struggled with drug addiction leading up to her death, with traces of methamphetamine, cocaine, cannabis and methadone found in her system.
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