Marat Ganiev, Eyal Yaffe have charges dropped due to ‘insufficient evidence’
Updated ,first published
Isla Bell’s mother says she feels like she was thrown aside like her daughter’s body, and her grandfather called on the state attorney general to intervene after charges were dropped Tuesday against the 19-year-old’s alleged killer.
A manslaughter charge against the man accused of killing the Melbourne teenager whose disappearance sparked a community-wide search in 2024 will be dropped, prosecutors have told the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Marat Ganiev, 55, was charged with the manslaughter of Bell, whose decomposed remains were found in a refrigerator at a Dandenong dump on November 20, 2024, six weeks after she went missing.
Prosecutors initially alleged that Ganiev killed Bell in a St Kilda East apartment in the early hours of October 7, 2024, less than 48 hours after they met. But the charge will now be reduced to perverting the course of justice, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Eyal Yaffe, accused of perverting the course of justice by helping Ganiev dispose of Bell’s body, dropped all charges against him on Tuesday and was released.
“You may have thrown me in the trash can with my daughter,” Bell’s mother, Justine Spokes, said. Age The decision he was warned about was approaching, but he had difficulty accepting it.
“I had low expectations of our legal system, but not low enough. Truth and justice are being ignored.”
Spokes fears Yaffe, who is bailed on $20,000 bail in November 2024 and must wear an ankle bracelet and remain in Melbourne, will not face a further inquest over her daughter’s death.
Police had previously alleged that Yaffe moved the fridge containing Bell’s body to a number of addresses in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, including Hampton and Caulfield South, and that the teenager’s remains were later discovered at the tip.
Spokes said the handling of the case left him feeling like the victims and their loved ones had been abandoned by the system.
“The community should have a chance to have a say. This does not meet the community’s expectations as there is no review process in place,” he said.
He said he had been told by the Office of the Public Prosecutor (OPP) that there was a strong case against Ganiev and Yaffe and that they were relying on Spokes’ “manslaughter charge”. [against Ganiev] until four days ago.”
“Where is the integrity of our state justice system?” he said.
At a hearing before a judge in October 2025, the forensic pathologist said he could not determine the cause of Bell’s death or say when the multiple lacerations, superficial injuries and fractures to his skull and ribs occurred.
The charges were withdrawn due to “insufficient evidence” to support the charges, an OPP spokesman said Tuesday.
Bell’s grandfather, David Spokes, said the justice system was “programmed to limit effective prosecution.”
“Throughout my personal and professional life, I have believed that our adversarial justice system provides just that: justice. Not anymore. Our justice system is failing badly and in need of reform,” he said.
David Spokes said all his family wants is evidence to be tested to standards beyond a reasonable doubt in front of a jury of his peers. “At the eleventh hour, these two principles appear to have been abandoned by our prosecutorial system,” he said.
“It is not the job of the bureaucracy to play the role of a jury and bargain away the hopes and expectations of those left behind in the wake of terrible crimes.”
He said police had always acted honestly and impartially, but since his grandson’s death the family had learned that other families were also disappointed in their decision to drop charges.
“Unfortunately, there will be more in the future as the cycle of brutality against women continues,” the grandfather said. “We call on Attorney General Sonia Kilkenny to intervene and change the system. It is time for the pendulum to swing back to support victims of violence.”
Bell’s close friend Isy, who asked that her last name not be used, said she was shaking with anger because she would never be held accountable to anyone.
“I have absolutely nothing to say,” Isy said in a statement. “What does this say to girls, young women, all women?
“We are disposable. I am so heartbroken.”
Isy said he had a hard time understanding how the case could be dropped and the impact it would have. “His family and community will never have closure… My dear friend Isla, you deserve justice. I am so sorry. This should never have been the outcome.”
Anti-violence campaigner Sherele Moody Australian Femicide WatchHe supports Bell’s mother and has hosted her to speak at a memorial rally in 2025.
“It feels like there’s no public accountability and they’re not taking into account the need for legal consequences for victims. It’s not in the public interest to not proceed,” Moody said.
“The OPP appears to be focused on clearance rates and getting these cases through the courts as quickly as possible. But if this government is serious about ending violence against women, the OPP needs to scrutinize its actions.”
Bell was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick at around 6pm on October 4, 2024, but her family said the last contact they knew of was on October 7 via social media.
His family supported the search for the teenager, creating social media pages and covering Melbourne with posters, generating huge public support.
Justine Spokes, who was in court Tuesday, said she followed the prosecution’s advice not to speak publicly, even after she was told the charges could change.
“I was warned not to go to the media” [to] “And I protected the integrity of the case,” he said, adding that he was “taken to the garden path until eleven o’clock.”
“Consultations with victims left behind to cope with the crushing reality of life without Isla [were] “For performance purposes only,” he said.
Bell’s former boss, Tamara Griffiths, was distraught on Tuesday and could only think about the time she spent with her friend: They sat together and watched monarch butterflies hatch from pupae in Griffiths’ nursery, their bright patterns stretching out on broad wings.
Griffiths said he now thinks of Bell whenever he sees a monarch butterfly. He saw them on Monday.
“When I saw the monarch butterflies yesterday I said, ‘Hi Isla, it’s so nice to see you,'” Griffiths said. Age through a smile and sobs.
“I want him to be remembered for who he was. Not for what happened to him.”
from AAP
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