Inmate Tells Of Jail Confession To House Fire Murder

The Age

Wednesday July 5, 2006

JULIA MEDEW

A WOMAN accused of murdering her lover allegedly told a fellow inmate she had planned the house fire that killed him and organised her daughter to be an alibi, a court has heard.

Vasiliki "Vicky" Efandis, 47, who is charged with murdering George Marcetta, allegedly drugged the 58-year-old painter at his Bellfield home on September 8, 2004, before setting fire to the house. His charred body was found the next day.

In a statement tendered to the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday, a former prison inmate, who cannot be identified, described a conversation in which Efandis allegedly confessed to the crime.

She said: "Vicky asked me one night, 'Do you think I lit the fire?' I said to her, 'Well, did you?' Vicky said, 'We did, but they've got nothing.' "

The witness said Efandis talked incessantly about the alleged crime because she said she wanted to get it "off her chest".

"Each time she would begin to tell me about it I told her I didn't want to know about it and I didn't want to get involved."

She said Efandis, who allegedly said the kerosene used in the fire came from one of Mr Marcetta's suppliers, was clever. "She thinks the police are idiots and she is going to get bail for these charges," she said.

The court heard the witness was later moved into a protective cell because she believed Efandis and other inmates had tried to poison her tea or were trying to set her up by putting drugs in her cell.

However, when cross-examined by Efandis' counsel, Colin Lovitt, QC, the witness said Efandis had repeatedly said she was innocent.

"She never stated she did it. It was arranged, she said . . . She was confusing. One minute she would say something and another minute she would say another thing," she said.

Mr Lovitt said no other prisoner had confirmed the details of Efandis' alleged confession.

He described allegations that Efandis had poisoned the woman's tea as outrageous.

Stuart Findlay Wilson, from Telstra, told the court that Efandis' mobile phone had connected with a telephone base station in Preston, close to the Bellfield house, on the night of the fire.

However, during cross-examination, Mr Wilson said he could not rule out Efandis' phone connecting with the Preston tower from her Ivanhoe home - where she claimed to be with her daughter when the fire was lit.

The committal hearing continues today.

© 2006 The Age

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