Shocking details behind the murder of Violet Tamvakis were finally revealed in a hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
According to a report by the Herald Sun, the 75-year-old was in the process of changing her will in a bid to stop her son Socrates Tamvakis from selling the family home, when she was allegedly murdered by him.
The incident took place in the family home in Bentleigh, where the beloved mother and grandmother lived with her son, in the early hours of 26 April 2016, when police allege the 45-year-old beat his mother with a rolling pin and stabbed her to death.
Mr Tamvakis appeared in court on Tuesday, and despite pleading not guilty, was charged with the murder of his mother.
The youngest of three siblings, his elder sisters revealed to the committal that he had been suffering from bipolar for some 25 years and had a history of verbally abusing their mother.
While Mrs Tamvakis’ second daughter Dimitra Kotsabouikis described the pair’s relationship as “love-hate”, she said that she had never witnessed her brother be physically violent towards her.
“Socrates has said many times he was going to kill mum, but I never thought he’d do it,” Mrs Kotsabouikis told the court.
The sisters said that their mother was in fact changing her will, but that it was her intention to allow Mr Tamvakis to continue living in the house for the entirety of his life, but to stop him from selling it after her death.
An electronics technician, Mr Tamvakis has a long history of mental illness. Diagnosed with depression at the age of 20, he had since been admitted to psychiatric clinics involuntarily some 30 times.
The 45-year-old will stand trial at the Supreme Court of Victoria on 31 January.