Add Category
Two-and-a-half years after accused Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick vanished, a coroner is about to deliver findings — but despite weeks of evidence at an inquest, the mystery may remain unsolved.
"Just come home," her husband Anthony Koletti pleaded at a media conference alongside police in November 2020.
"Everything's taken care of, you're not in trouble."
It was the week after she was last seen.
The case would leave investors gobsmacked, captivate the nation, prompt drawn-out litigation over millions of dollars, and spur an assortment of imaginative conspiracy theories.
Whether Ms Caddick was in "trouble", at least in the sense of imminent prosecution, is clearer in hindsight.
Mr Koletti offered scant detail back then about what happened the night he last saw her and said she went for an early-morning run, leaving behind her keys and wallet, and never returned.
The day before, officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), raided their Dover Heights property, in Sydney's east.
ASIC was investigating a Ponzi scheme Ms Caddick was allegedly running which resulted in between $20 and $30 million in losses to investors, the inquest into the 49-year-old's suspected death was told.
Video footage played to the court offered a glimpse into the raid and Mr Koletti's first conversations with police after it — but the actions of both sides came under scrutiny.
The raid
ASIC formally commenced an investigation in early September 2020.
Ms Caddick's behaviour was normal during the mammoth 12-hour raid, AFP executing officer Constable Amelia Griffen told the inquest.
But she seemed surprised, shocked and embarrassed by the police presence.
Footage showed officers counting through thousands of dollars in foreign currency and examining jewellery and watches, including from high-end brands Canturi and Dior.
Asked whether there were any high value items, Ms Caddick, arms crossed, replied: "I'd say they're all high value."
Mr Koletti previously raised concerns about mistreatment during the raid, alleging negligence, cruelty and inhumanity.
But ASIC investigator Isabella Allen told the coroner the search was "professional".
She was asked whether she felt responsible for Ms Caddick's death, after Mr Koletti levelled that allegation against the watchdog in a 2021 statement.
"No, I was doing my job," Ms Allen replied.
Constable Griffen said Ms Caddick was allowed to move around the house, get food or drink and go to the bathroom, exhibiting no signs of distress or frustration.
The feeling was "almost professional calmness or resignation", she said.
The foot
Three months after she vanished, a decomposing foot encased in a sneaker was found washed up on Bournda Beach, on the NSW south coast.
While it was matched to Ms Caddick through DNA analysis, an autopsy couldn't determine if it was separated by blunt force, sharp force, or decomposition.
An expert report by an orthopaedic surgeon stated amputation would be "extremely difficult" for a non-medically trained person and carry serious risks.
Some expert witnesses were asked to contemplate the possibility of Ms Caddick's shoe travelling from Dover Heights to Bournda Beach between November 2020 and February 2021.
Two believed it was "unlikely although not impossible" that the journey took 100 days.
In a supplementary autopsy report requested for the inquest, a pathologist said with "limited remains" available, it wasn't possible to determine the full extent of any injuries Ms Caddick may have suffered.
The presence of fractures indicated "trauma to the foot at some point", but the pathologist couldn't say if that was due to a fall from height or other possibilities.
The manner of death couldn't be determined.
The husband
Mr Koletti, a hairdresser and DJ, maintained he had no knowledge of his wife's alleged fraud and flatly denied assisting her in disappearing.
He described himself as "not really financially savvy" and considered her to be a diligent and successful financial advisor.
But during his time in the witness box at the inquest, Mr Koletti conceded he's come to understand she was "a fraudster" after observing court proceedings.
He said he too was "deceived" into believing she was honest.
The inquest was told it took Mr Koletti about 30 hours to report his wife missing to police.
In those hours, he drove around their suburb searching, and at one point went to a friend's house "to get an e-cigarette".
Asked whether it was to smoke a joint, he said he couldn't remember, before accepting it would be something he did "to calm down".
A barrister for ASIC put to Mr Koletti that his assertion the watchdog was responsible for his wife's suspected death demonstrated a "complete loss of objective perspective".
Mr Koletti denied it, but agreed an investigation had to occur.
His evidence was at times contradictory, even muddled, to the point of being ordered to temporarily stand down by Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan.
Lawyers had asked him questions about his actions, the delay, the timeline, and what he was thinking when he gave police certain information.
"The way that you talk is not the way my mind works," he replied to one question after repeatedly expressing confusion.
His lawyer told the court Mr Koletti was "struggling with the nuances".
Magistrate Ryan told Mr Koletti if he couldn't focus and give truthful answers, it wouldn't assist her.
The police investigation
Police initially considered Mr Koletti to be evasive, vague and inconsistent.
One of the theories they first considered was that the accused fraudster had "gone to ground", the court was told.
The first officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Kyneur, said there was no evidence to suggest murder.
But a risk assessment performed the first weekend after the disappearance noted there was a "significant possibility" she had been injured or killed.
A third theory was that Ms Caddick took her own life.
Detective Chief Inspector Glen Browne, the then-manager of the NSW Missing Persons Registry, believed the theory Ms Caddick was in hiding was pursued "to the detriment of others".
But he also said that didn't mean other leads were neglected.
The court was told that in the first three months after the disappearance, police had only reviewed 20 per cent of the CCTV footage collected by officers.
It was a process described by Detective Inspector Gretchen Atkins, a local Crime Manager, as painstaking and she said police were short-staffed.
Possible open findings
At the outset, Counsel Assisting Jason Downing SC told the court Ms Caddick's manner, cause, date and place of death are matters involving "significant uncertainty and complexity".
They were the focus of the inquest and detailed findings may be made on several of the issues.
"It remains a distinct possibility that after hearing all of the evidence, your Honour might ultimately return an open finding with respect to one or more of those issues," Mr Downing said last year.
Magistrate Ryan is permitted to make conclusions on the balance of probabilities that Ms Caddick is dead and there is no dispute as to her identity.
She may also make recommendations about the issues connected to the disappearance.
The findings are expected to be handed down on Thursday, May 25.