Melissa Caddick coronial inquest: Coroner to hand down findings on disappearance

A coroner has determined that missing fraudster Melissa Caddick is dead following a lengthy inquest into her disappearance, but it is unlikely she cut off her own foot, or had it removed by someone else, when they were found dead three months after her disappearance. beach was found.

Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan will share her findings Thursday morning on the sudden disappearance of Caddick, who was last seen near her home in Dover Heights in November 2020.

“I think it’s appropriate to say right away that I’ve concluded that Melissa Caddick has died,” Ryan said Thursday.

“A more problematic issue, however, is whether there is enough evidence about how she died.”

The ruling follows a long-running corona investigation investigating the circumstances surrounding the 49-year-old’s mysterious disappearance – and appears to finally put an end to a long-running conspiracy theory that Ms Caddick is still alive and may have escaped abroad after she had somehow removed her leg. .

Ms Caddick disappeared from Sydney’s eastern suburbs just hours after her Dover Heights mansion, which doubled as a business premises, was raided by the AFP and ASIC.

Magistrate Ryan said the inquest heard from forensic psychiatrist Dr Kerri Eagle, who determined Ms Caddick may have had a narcissistic personality disorder. She noted that people with this condition are at risk of committing suicide if they undergo something that deeply shames them.

The corporate watchdog has accused Ms. Caddick of carrying out a Ponzi scheme and embezzling $24 million, including from her friends and family, to fund a lavish lifestyle, including vacations, designer jewellery, watches, clothes and shoes.

The case has sparked numerous conspiracy theories and inspired a television series.

The inquest examined Mrs Caddick’s final hours, the actions of her husband Anthony Koletti, as well as the police investigation.

The court has learned that the police suspect Mrs Caddick committed suicide by jumping off the cliff at Rodney Reserve, about 500 meters from her home, on the morning of 12 November 2020.

Mrs. Caddick was heard walking out her front door at around 5:30 am before disappearing, and failing to show up for court the following day.

However, Mr Koletti did not report his wife missing until he contacted Rose Bay Police Station at 11:45 am on 13 November – a full 30 hours after she was last seen.

During his testimony, Mr. Koletti told the court that he mistakenly believed he had to wait 24 hours to report someone missing.

“Did you delay reporting her missing until then to give her time to go somewhere?” coroner counsel Jason Downing asked.

“No,” said Mr. Koletti.

NSW Police Officer Trent Riley told the court during the inquest that he found the “extremely strange and unusual behaviour” Mr Koletti had initially told police he did not want them to come to his house or go to the station to make a to make a statement.

“I thought it was odd that a man called the police station, reported his wife missing two days ago and was unwilling to come to the police station and didn’t want the police to talk to him because he had too much work that day,” Sergeant Riley told the court.

Sergeant Riley also told the court that Mr Koletti has provided several versions of when he last saw his wife alive.

He also described Mr. Koletti as “evasive, vague and inconsistent.”

Mr. Koletti has been consistently critical of the ASIC study.

In an affidavit presented to the court, he claimed that he and Ms. Caddick were denied food, water and medical care during the 12 hours that ASIC and the AFP were present at their home.

However, the court heard that Ms. Caddick drank a protein shake during the raid, Mr. Koletti made her several coffees and that they occasionally smoked cigarettes in their backyard.

In a statement, he said: “I believe (Ms. Caddick) died as a direct result of ASIC’s negligence, cruelty and inhumanity.”

Despite admitting that Ms. Caddick was responsible for defrauding millions of investors and allowing them to roam the house on the day of the raid, he maintained that ASIC was responsible for her death.

A foot – later identified as belonging to Ms Caddick – washed up on Bournda Beach on the NSW south coast in February 2021 – three months after she disappeared.

The court has previously learned that Mrs. Caddick’s shoe was covered in 250 grams of goose mussels when it washed up on the beach.

According to an expert report, barnacle fouling suggested that the shoe may have swam freely on the surface of the water for three to seven days before being washed off.

The court heard it is possible that the shoe floated on the ocean floor for several months before floating to the surface and landing on beaches on the south coast of NSW.

Oceanographer Dr David Griffin said calculations using ocean currents suggest that the shoe went into the water in Dover Heights in November and was found three months later 400km to the south.

Pathologist Jennifer Pokorny told the inquest in a statement that it was not possible to determine the full extent of Ms Caddick’s injuries as all that was recovered was a decomposed foot in a right running shoe.

Nor was it possible to determine a cause of death, she said.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Kerri Eagle told the inquest that after reviewing Ms. Caddick’s medical record, as well as witness statements, it was found that she had a narcissistic personality disorder.

She said that for people who suffer from the disorder, their self-esteem and self-esteem depend on external admiration and impressing others.

Dr. Eagle told the court that her charges would have put her at risk of losing her work and the “respect and admiration” of others.

She told Ms Ryan that when ASIC raided her home it was likely to have had a ‘very big’ impact on her self-esteem.

“Ms. Caddick seemed to be experiencing problems with low mood, depression and anxiety and problems coping with excessive stress… the low mood symptoms persisted as long as the stress lasted,” Dr. Eagle said.

She said people with similar conditions have been known to commit suicide after a “major affront to their self-esteem.”