Supreme Court murder trial
Charlie Gander, 19, of Benalla, was kidnapped and murdered before his body was found in a burnt-out car at Bunbartha on Christmas Eve, 2022.
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After a 29-day Supreme Court trial, a jury found Dimitri D’Elio, 27, of Mooroopna, guilty of murder, kidnapping and arson, and Kylie Stott, 40, of Shepparton, guilty of manslaughter and kidnapping. They’ll be sentenced in February.
The jury found Danny Clarke, 41, of Shepparton, guilty of kidnapping. He has been sentenced to three years in prison, plus one year for a separate unrelated arson charge, with a non-parole period of two years and four months.
Woman jailed for 13 years after setting victim on fire
Jordan Spencer, 34, of Shepparton, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence after setting a 20-year-old woman on fire.
Spencer threw petrol on the victim’s face and hair, and used a jet lighter to deliberately set her alight outside her home on January 15, 2024.
The victim suffered burns to 30 per cent of her body and was in an induced coma for three and a half months after being engulfed in flames for 64 seconds.
Spencer must serve a non-parole period of nine years.
Driver sentenced over five-person Strathmerton fatality
Christopher Dillon Joannidis, 31, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for a crash in 2023 at Strathmerton that claimed the lives of five people.
Joannidis failed to give way at the Labuan Rd and Murray Valley Hwy intersection, causing a collision that forced a ute into the path of a milk tanker.
He must serve a non-parole period of three years; however, the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence in March 2025.
Man jailed for 12 years over attempted murder of ex-partner
Jack Chambers, 33, from the Sydney suburb of Meadowbank, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend.
He also pleaded guilty to stalking and five counts of conduct endangering life.
Chambers rammed the woman’s car off the road at 100km/h in Murchison North on January 12, 2023, before driving head-on into a stranger's car she’d run to for help.
The offending followed a history of violence after their relationship ended in October 2022, including Chambers choking her twice.
He must serve a non-parole period of seven years and eight months.
Major drug raids across the region
Shepparton police joined forces with multiple agencies to dismantle local drug and tobacco networks in 2025. The biggest seizures included:
- Methamphetamines, MDMA seized and 500kg of pre-cursor chemicals from a large-scale clandestine drug laboratory in Toolamba.
- Sixteen tonnes of illegal tobacco, worth about $35 million, in Merrigum.
- More than $80,000 of cocaine during a major five-day operation across Greater Shepparton.
- More than 400 cannabis plants at two Greater Shepparton properties, which police allege weren’t linked.
Four people killed in Muckatah crash
There were multiple fatal crashes in the region in 2025, with 22 people dying over 19 incidents.
The highest number of fatalities in a single incident occurred when a minibus carrying nine people crashed on Chapel Rd, Muckatah, on December 15.
A 17-year-old male, 34-year-old male, 51-year-old woman and 45-year-old female, all from overseas and working in the Greater Shepparton, area died at the scene.
Those affected belong to Shepparton’s African and Papua New Guinean communities, and two fundraisers have been established for the families.
Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives continue to investigate the exact circumstances surrounding the crash.
Man’s unsafe storage of homemade gun led to wife’s death
Adam Winmar, 30, was sentenced for reckless conduct endangering life and being a prohibited person possessing a firearm.
His homemade pipe gun discharged and killed his pregnant wife, 27-year-old Kiara Ferguson, after hitting the bathroom floor of their Shepparton home on April 1, 2023.
Winmar had stored the weapon under a couch cushion where it was found by one of their young daughters.
A previous manslaughter charge was withdrawn by the prosecution.
He was sentenced to three months in prison, followed by a 12-month community corrections order.
$1.35 million fine for company over fatigue fatal crash
Onkar Group Pty Ltd was fined $1.35 million after one of its subcontracted delivery drivers died in a crash at Kialla West on August 17, 2022.
The Keysborough company’s director, Maninder Singh Nagi, 49, of Warrandyte, was fined $80,000.
The court heard 27-year-old Rohallah Khashee had worked 17 days in a row before the crash, with most shifts exceeding 12 hours.
His delivery van collided with a truck in a 100km/h zone on the Goulburn Valley Hwy.
Porepunkah police shootings
Two Victoria Police members were fatally shot and a third seriously injured during an ambush at Porepunkah on August 26.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, were killed while serving a search warrant at a Rayner Track property.
Suspected gunman 56-year-old Dezi Freeman — also known as Desmond Filby — was seen fleeing on foot into the bush after the shootings.
Despite an extensive manhunt and a $1 million reward, he remains at large.