Two elderly men receive over a decade in prison for 1999 Canberra manslaughter

In a landmark ACT Supreme Court hearing, Joseph Vekony and Steve Fabriczy, both septuagenarians, were sentenced for the 1999 killing of Irma Palasics during a home invasion in Canberra. DNA recovered from a milk bottle and a water container in the victims’ fridge tied the men to the crime, leading to their arrest via an elaborate undercover “Mr Big” sting. Fabriczy was ordered to serve 16 years and six months, whereas Vekony received a 20-year term, reflecting his involvement in an earlier burglary at the same house.

Earlier this year, a jury found the duo guilty of manslaughter rather than murder, concluding they were responsible for the violent assault that left Irma dead and her husband Gregor injured. During sentencing, Justice David Mossop remarked that Vekony’s terminal liver cancer makes it “almost certain” he will die in custody. The family, including Irma’s grandson, has described living with a “life sentence of grief” since the tragedy.