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A grieving family have expressed shock and anguish after an alleged murderer denied killing his girlfriend.
Accused killer Joel Micallef, 33, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, where he was committed to stand trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of Nikkita Azzopardi.
Micallef, who appeared via videolink from the Metropolitan Remand Centre wearing a green prison T-shirt, had to be asked several times by Magistrate Leon Fluxman what his plea was.
Micallef, who appeared dishevelled, inaudibly mumbled his plea several times before he eventually clearly said ‘not guilty’.
A large group of Ms Azzopardi’s family members and close friends left the courtroom shortly after the plea.
At least one member shook their head as they exited the room.
Homicide detectives alleged that Micallef killed his girlfriend of two years Ms Azzopardi, 35, at a South Morang home in Melbourne’s north sometime between October 26 and October 28 last year.
Ms Azzopardi’s two brothers and father conducted a welfare check and found her body inside the townhouse after she failed to show up at a family barbecue the night before.
Nikkita Azzopardi (pictured) was found dead at a home in Melbourne’s north in October 2024
Joel Micallef (right) has pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend Nikkita (left)
Devastated close ones of Ms Azzopardi leave court after hearing her accused killer plead not guilty
It’s alleged her brothers and father confronted Micallef at the home after he barricaded a door.
Ms Azzopardi’s older brother then broke through the door and found her body.
Micallef was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital to undergomedical assessments.
Police interviewed Micallef for almost two days before the unemployed tradesman was charged with one count of murder.
Micallef was unable to appear at his initial court hearing in October last year due to being in hospital.
It was unclear why the alleged killer was hospitalised, with his lawyer telling the court her client was suffering from ‘health complications’.
Magistrate Fluxman told Micallef on Wednesday that there was enough evidence in the hand-up brief to commit him to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
Ms Azzopardi, who was an accountant, was described by her older brother Shaun at the time of her death as a ‘gentle soul who would help anyone’.
Ms Azzopardi was found by her two brothers and father after they drove to her home when she had failed to show up at a family barbecue
Ms Azzopardi’s older brother Shaun Azzopardi (pictured) last saw his sister alive 10 days earlier at his son’s 15th birthday
‘She’ll do anything for anyone, she didn’t see the bad in people and always saw the good,’ Mr Azzopardi told media shortly after her body was discovered.
He described his sister as a ‘kind soul’.
‘You think it’s not going to happen to you, to your sister, your brother, but I’m not going see my sister again.’
The last time he saw his sister alive was 10 days earlier at his son’s 15th birthday, which she arranged at a go-karting venue.
‘In hindsight, if you knew it was the last time, you’d be doing more, you’d be asking more, you’d be taking pictures,’ he said.
Ms Azzopardi’s close ones leave Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday after he alleged killer was committed to stand trial
‘I don’t know my father’s state, my mum’s state, my brother’s state – how do you move past this, how do you get through it?’
‘It doesn’t feel real. I’m trying to stay strong’.
Micallef, who the court heard was experiencing his first jail stint in his life, was remanded in custody to reappear in court for a directions hearing on March 21.
