A man accused of helping to dispose of a teenager’s body in a fridge has been released back into the community with an ankle bracelet to restrict to his movements.
Eyal Yaffe’s legal team successfully argued on Monday for their client to be granted bail under strict conditions including a $20,000 surety, a curfew, that he surrender his passport and not leave metropolitan Melbourne, and that he fund the electronic monitoring device which would prevent him from coming within 200 metres of the addresses of potential witnesses.
Eyal Yaffe applied for bail on Friday.Credit: Facebook
Yaffe, 57, is accused of helping to cover up the death of Isla Bell at a St Kilda East apartment in October. He allegedly moved a fridge containing her body to a number of addresses around the suburbs before she was discovered at a Dandenong tip last week.
Bell’s family were in court for the decision, hugging and crying as Yaffe was released.
Ian Hill, KC, argued on Friday that there was nothing but circumstantial evidence connecting his client to the alleged murder and no evidence he knew someone had died.
Police allege the 19-year-old was killed by Marat Ganiev, 53, on October 7, and that he and Yaffe then worked together to dispose of her body.
Isla Bell, 19, was described by those who knew her as a vibrant soul.Credit: Facebook
Magistrate Rohan Lawrence said his job was to balance the presumption of innocence, the right to liberty and protection of the community.
Lawrence said it was a serious example of the charge of assisting an offender, which could attract a maximum jail term of 20 years, but acknowledged any trial would be at least a year away.
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