A man accused of helping to dispose of the body of the tragic Melbourne man teenager Isla Bell has been released from prison.
Eyal Yaffe, 57, of Hampton, is charged with assisting an offender in murder.
On Monday, Magistrate Rohan let Lawrence Yaffe walk free at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, despite describing his alleged crimes as “heartless” and “abhorrent”.
His decision was met with tears from the courtroom, where members of Ms Bell’s family sat in the back.
They were stunned when Mr. Lawrence laid out all the reasons why he believed Yaffe had the right to walk free.
“In my opinion, the prosecutor has not established that Mr. Yaffe poses an unacceptable risk,” he said.
On Wednesday, Marat Ganiev, 53, from St Kilda, appeared in the same court charged with Ms Bell’s murder. He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody.
Outside court, Ms Bell’s relatives refused to speak to a waiting media pack and asked to be left alone.
Family of Isla Bell leave Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday after Yaffe was granted bail
On Thursday the court heard that Mrs Bell vthought she had found the man of her dreams in the days before she was allegedly brutally murdered murdered by a man more than twice her age.
Daily Mail Australia revealed police allege the 19-year-old texted her friend to express her happiness just hours before her alleged murder.
In a Snapchat message sent on October 7, Ms Bell, who last left her home in Melbourne’s Brunswick three days earlier on October 4, told her friend she had “found the best sugar daddy”, so the court documents state.
Her remains were found six weeks later on November 19 at a tip in Dandenong and have yet to be formally identified.
In applying for bail, Yaffe’s barrister Ian Hill KC said the former jeweler could live with his son, Ziv Yaffe, and be monitored electronically.
It was a condition accepted by the magistrate, requiring Yaffe to be provided with the monitor at all times while on bail.
The court heard he has been banned from visiting five addresses linked to the alleged crime, or attempting to visit ports where he could flee the country.
The court heard Yaffe was armed with a ticket to Bulgaria when he was arrested, having bought it the day after police brought him in for questioning.
Two men have been charged after police found suspected human remains during their search for 19-year-old Isla Bell (pictured)
Marat Ganiev, 53, from St Kilda appeared in the Melbourne District Court on Wednesday charged with the murder of Isla Bell
Eyal Yaffe (pictured) appeared jovial within the confines of the prison dock on Wednesday. He is accused of helping the man who allegedly killed Isla Bell to cover up his crime
Prosecutors had argued that Yaffe posed not only a flight risk, but also a risk to public safety and prosecuting witnesses.
“In my view, the case against him does not depend on witnesses, but on telephone records, CCTV footage and statements to police,” Lawrence said.
“There is no rational reason to believe he could intervene.”
In arguing for his release, Yaffe’s lawyer – a leading Melbourne silk – criticized the police case against his client.
“The facts are clear, there is no direct evidence and we say no evidence from which this could be inferred,” Hill said last week.
The court was told under Victorian law Yaffe was prima facie entitled to bail unless the court was satisfied he posed an unacceptable risk.
Court documents have outlined the alleged harrowing final moments of Ms Bell’s life.
Ms. Bell told her friend that a “sugar daddy” had showered her with gifts and “rescued her from sex traffickers.”
Ziv Yaffe leaves court on Monday after his father was released on bail
Isla Bell (pictured) was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick, inner-city Melbourne, on October 4 at around 6pm. Her remains were found at a landfill six weeks later.
She is said to have moved in with Ganiev just two days earlier – a day after her frantic mother reported Mrs Bell missing to police.
Police allege Ganiev murdered Ms Bell just after midnight on October 7.
Homicide squad detectives claim CCTV footage outside Ganiev’s St Kilda East apartment complex captured what appeared to be him attacking Ms Bell.
Cameras recorded Ms Bell entering his apartment at 9.27pm on October 5, but she never left alive, police claim.
Police allege Ms Bell’s head was ‘swinging around’ from an opening in the front kitchen window when she was hit by Ganiev.
“She falls to the floor and Ganiev is seen hitting her on the floor of the kitchen,” according to court documents.
“You see what appears to be Bell’s head rising before being pushed back down by Ganiev’s arm.”
The footage is said to have captured Ms Bell alive between 12.43am and 2am, when she disappeared from view.
Police allege that Ganiev went to work cleaning the apartment over the next few days.
Detectives allege Yaffe became involved after receiving a phone call from Ganiev on November 8 – a day after Ms Bell was allegedly murdered.
The next day he allegedly drove to Ganiev’s apartment in St. Kilda East and delivered a new black refrigerator. On October 17 he returned to remove the old one, wrapped in plastic.
Police claim Isla Bell’s body was placed in a refrigerator and later left on a tip
Police allege Ms Bell’s remains were in the fridge.
Over the next few days, the trailer was reportedly moved to three locations in Melbourne allegedly associated with Mr Yaffe, with one person later telling police it had a “foul smell” and attracted flies.
Detective Senior Constable Benjamin Curran told the court it was the police matter. Yaffe knew the refrigerator contained her body and that she had been murdered.
“At that time it had been 10 days since she had passed away… It’s not a smell you can mistake or forget,” he said.
When Yaffe was arrested, police reportedly found meth and $6,000 cash on him.
Although police initially denied his involvement in hiding Ms Bell’s body, police claim Yaffe eventually admitted to the crime but claimed to have known nothing about how the teenager died.
On Wednesday, Ms Bell’s heartbroken mother, Justine Spokes, issued a heartbreaking statement in memory of her daughter as Ganiev appeared in court.
“I am so very sorry, my dear daughter,” she said.
‘I couldn’t protect you from your complex diseases and this cruel world.
“I was so proud of your choices this year, of your strength to persevere despite your suffering.
“All you ever wanted was to create life, to create and cherish it, to love and be loved.
‘We were so looking forward to being reunited as a family; my heart aches and I can’t bear to think that won’t happen.’
She said her daughter was “the gentlest soul, the kindest person and free-spirited.”
“I will connect with you in spirit, my care bear, and no one can take that connection away from us,” she added.
A 63-year-old Mulgrave man was also arrested but has been released pending further investigations.
The Missing Persons Squad formally took over the investigation in late October.