Emil ‘Bill’ Petrov: Husband found guilty of estranged wife Cindy Crossthwaite’s 2007 murder

After a more than 17-year wait for justice, Cindy Crossthwaite’s family are ecstatic her husband has finally been held responsible for her execution-style killing.

The 41-year-old mother of three was discovered dead and partially covered by a pink blanket by her father, Phillip Crossthwaite, after the alarm was raised when she failed to pick her children up from school on June 20, 2007.

Her youngest, a 13-month-old boy, was found unharmed lying on the bed in Ms Crossthwaite’s Melton South home.

Emil Petrov, also known as Bill, has been standing trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court, where, on Wednesday, a jury of 12 unanimously delivered a guilty verdict after a week of deliberations.

“Guilty,” the forewoman said, when asked what their verdict was.

Members of Ms Crossthwaite’s family attended court for as the verdict was delivered, alongside Petrov’s partner.

Her father pumped his fist in the air when the verdict came back as Petrov shifted in his seat and shook his head.

He briefly spoke with his lawyers and kissed his partner, who was shedding tears, before he was led from the court by officers.

Prosecutors, led by Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson KC, argued that Petrov held a deep-seated hatred for his estranged wife after their split and had sought revenge through a “well-planned, well-implemented execution”.

“From the evidence, we know that Bill Petrov stood to gain a lot by killing Cindy Crossthwaite. He stood to achieve vengeance for what he believed she had done to him and he stood to gain the opportunity to avoid assets being stripped from him,” he said.

“The thing that stands out with this killing, we submit, is that it bears all the hallmarks of a very personal crime; a crime of vengeance, we would say.”

Ms Crossthwaite was found bashed, strangled and shot in the head near the front door of her property.

Petrov, prosecutors argued, had broken into the home and killed her about 9.10am after she returned from dropping their two children at the local school.

But they also submitted if the jury could not reach the conclusion it was Petrov beyond reasonable doubt, they could alternatively find him guilty on the basis he entered into an agreement with an unknown person to murder her.

The jury was told he had taken the week off work and two nearby residents had reported seeing a man acting suspiciously on June 19 and 20.

Petrov’s defence, led by Ashley Halphen, put forward a range of other possible explanations, including a random robbery gone wrong and the possibility his father, Ljubisa Petrov, orchestrated the murder without his son’s knowledge.

Mr Halphen said Ljubisa blamed Ms Crossthwaite for the couple’s split, believing she had been unfaithful and had engineered allegations of sexual misconduct against him that resulted in a police investigation.

The jury was told Petrov Sr had since died and police did not lay any charges.

“You might think this is entirely reasonable and realistic,” Mr Halphen said.

Key to the prosecution case was a former friend of Petrov, Brian O’Shea, who until April had also been accused of Ms Crossthwaithe’s murder before agreeing to give evidence.

Mr O’Shea told the jury he had sourced a firearm for Petrov about a year earlier and he had been “like a broken record” in complaining about Ms Crossthwaite.

Just six to eight weeks before her death, Mr O’Shea claimed Petrov had shown him a wig, gloves and dark clothing in the boot of his car.

“I’m going to kill Cindy, will you help me? I’m going to kill the c--t,” he said.

Mr Halphen attacked Mr O’Shea’s evidence, suggesting that the dropping of his murder charge had given him a huge motive to lie.

“After almost 17 years, after years of radio silence … he gave a version of various events that fitted into the prosecution case like a glove,” he said.

Mr Halphen argued there were significant gaps in the prosecution case, including the lack of any forensic evidence, saying; “intense feelings associated with a messy separation is not enough to establish murder.”

Justice Beale thanked jurors for their service and remanded Petrov into custody ahead of his next court appearance on March 21.

Outside court, Ms Crossthwaite’s aunt Kathleen Jones said the feeling of justice finally was “better than winning lotto”.

“It’s just amazing for all the women who have been violated by men, domestic violence, its good that the justice system stood up and they finally got him,” she said.

“She was a beautiful girl, she was lovely, she was a mum.

“It’s just been long time coming so we’re just so happy she gets justice.”