By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Noble Park man who stabbed his wife to death while he was afflicted with severe dementia has been released from custody.
In 2019, Dragan Stevanovic was found not guilty by a Supreme Court jury of murdering 65-year-old Radmila due to his mental impairment.
On the morning of 2 February 2018, persistent and very loud screaming was heard from the couple’s Dunblane Avenue unit.
A “slightly shaken” Stevanovic walked to his friends’ house nearby and told them he’d “murdered” his wife with a “big knife”.
He said that she was “always taking my money”.
The couple had emigrated from Serbia together, been married for 45 years and shared two sons.
Ms Stevanoic had been her husband’s full-time carer since his first stroke in 2008.
At the time of the killing, Stevanovic had severe dementia as well as heart disease, cancer, anaemia and stroke.
In 2019, Justice John Champion ruled for Stevanovic’s imprisonment pending a custodial supervision order.
However in later hearings, it was submitted that Thomas Embling Hospital wasn’t suitable for dementia patients.
It was a secure facility designed to treat mentally ill patients who’d committed serious violent offences.
On a three-month trial basis in late 2019, Stevanovic was placed under supervision in an acute mental health ward specialising in dementia care at Monash Health.
The trial was extended for 12 months while a care plan was formulated.
On 9 June, Justice Champion ordered for Stevanovic’s release on a 25-year non-custodial supervision order under the direction of Monash Health.
While in custody, Stevanovic’s “irreversible” cognitive impairment had “significantly declined”.
“There is no practical alternative in the circumstances.
“The evidence that has been put before the Court establishes to my satisfaction that Mr Stevanovic is an elderly, ill man and is a low risk to the community.
“Further, it is not envisaged that his physical and mental health will improve over time, but rather that he will continue to deteriorate in these respects.”
