The Victorian justice system has determined that a man who brutally beat his partner to death with a fire iron was not criminally responsible for his actions, a verdict that has left the victim's family devastated and demanding reform.
A Life Cut Short and a Grisly Discovery
Nikkita Azzopardi, 35, was packed and ready to leave her partner and start a new life when she was killed in her South Morang home in Melbourne's north-east on October 26 last year. Her body lay undiscovered for two days until her brothers, Shaun and Darren, broke down the door to confront her partner, Joel Micallef, 34, and made the horrific find.
The scene remains seared in their memory, but they say the legal outcome has wounded them just as deeply. The Supreme Court of Victoria found Micallef not guilty of murder due to mental impairment, accepting evidence that he had schizophrenia and was in an acute psychotic state during the attack.
A Family's Fight for Justice and Their Rejection of the Defence
The Azzopardi family vehemently rejects the court's acceptance of the mental impairment defence. They allege Micallef's condition was exaggerated to excuse what they believe was a cold-blooded, premeditated murder.
Darren Azzopardi, speaking to the Daily Mail's The Trial Australia podcast, outlined a sequence of events he says demonstrates clear motive and intent. The night before the killing, the couple had argued after Nikkita expressed her intention to leave and began packing her car.
"He basically imprisoned her," Darren said. "He took her keys, car keys so she can't leave. Taken the house keys, locked the house." He argues that these deliberate acts of control should rule out a defence of mental impairment.
Further fuelling their suspicions, Shaun revealed that when he went to collect his sister's belongings, he found two bags of medication dated June and July, still in their blister packs and seemingly untaken, contradicting assertions Micallef had been on his medication.
Clash Between Medical Evidence and Family's Plea
The court heard from two forensic psychiatrists, one for the defence and one for the prosecution, who both concluded Micallef was acutely psychotic. Dr Andrew Carroll testified that Micallef believed his partner "had in some way been replaced by a demon."
However, the family questions this narrative. "If he really saw my sister as a threat... then why wouldn't you let her go?" Darren asked. "Why leave her in the house? Why would you stop her from leaving against her will?"
The brothers believe there was ample evidence for a full trial but feel prosecutors abandoned them. "We wanted a jury from the start," said Shaun, who claims the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) shifted its stance over time. He described a final meeting where their father was muted on a Teams call, symbolising how unheard they felt.
The OPP stated it acted on the advice of health officials. A spokesperson said: "Both [psychiatrists] found that he was mentally impaired at the time of the offending. Upon receipt of medical evidence... the prosecution accepted that Mr Micallef had the defence of mental impairment available to him." They added that the family was "extensively conferenced and kept informed."
Calls for Legal Reform in the Wake of Tragedy
With Micallef now scheduled for transfer to the Thomas Embling Hospital, a secure mental health facility, the Azzopardi family feels justice has been denied. They are now channelling their grief into advocacy, calling for reforms to Victoria's Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act of 1997.
They fear their sister's case was placed in the "too hard basket" and want to ensure other families do not suffer the same fate, where they believe the complexities of mental health law can eclipse the pursuit of justice for victims of violent crime.
