A wife slept next to her dead husband’s rotting corpse in what’s been compared to a “horror movie” by a family who faced the “unbearable truth” that their beloved father had been killed and left to mummify for more than a year by a stepson he had helped raise.
The bizarre and stomach-turning details surrounding the prolonged demise of the once proud and successful immigrant businessman Tomislav Nemes, 69, at his Gold Coast home were heard in the sentencing of Nikola Golem.
The 51-year-old wearing a black headguard was pushed on a wheelchair into Brisbane Supreme Court where he pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of manslaughter and interference of a corpse.
The court heard Mr Nemes was bedbound after a fall and the low-IQ Golem, in a period close to his stepfather’s death, voluntarily took up his care but failed to obtain medical attention and lied to his mother about speaking to doctors about treatment.
Mr Nemes died in February 2022.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher said for the next 14 months Golem, who had initially been charged with murder, engaged “in horrific acts” concealing his stepfather’s death and leaving the body to decay and mummify in the home.
He told his mother, the victim’s second wife Dragica Nemes – who is not accused of any wrongdoing – that he was still alive and just in a coma. The lies had significant impacts, she said.
“For example, the deceased’s wife lay beside and slept beside the dead body for a period of time until the smell became too much,” she said.
“It was clear to her that there were bugs around and the defendant indicated that the insects and the smells were from the bad toxins leaving Mr Nemes’ body and that he was improving.”
When police eventually came upon the victim’s corpse his face was unrecognisable and his body was “infested with insects” and their carcasses and there were rodent faeces surrounding it.
“The true horror of the way that he was left … the true extent of this (offence) really can’t be understood by the words on the page,” Ms Gallagher said handing a sealed envelope of photos to Justice Rebecca Treston.
Two of Mr Nemes’ daughters spoke to the horror that had unfolded for the family.
“Trying to make sense of how he was treated at the end of his life is a torment I carry every day,” Suzanna Beljanski said.
“The law has now given what happened to him a name and this court will give its sentence. “But I live with the part that has no name. There is no word in English or in my father’s own language for what it is to have your dad hidden in his bed for 14 months while you search for him.”
It was Ms Beljanski’s persistence on a trip up from her home in Canberra in April 2023 that finally unravelled Golem’s web of lies and unearthed her dad’s killing.
At the tall gates of the Benowa house she begged to be let in to see her father who had dropped out of contact.
Golem refused her access.
Ms Beljanski wanted to see a photo of him and speak to his doctor.
Golem refused.
He told her Mr Nemes was getting treatment and doctors were attending weekly. Both lies.
When she reluctantly left Golem texted her that her father’s doctors would be in touch and that he was being taken to hospital.
She checked local hospitals but nothing surfaced because Golem had been lying.
Police, initially indifferent, eventually acted on Ms Beljanski grave concerns but Mrs Nemes, described as mentally fragile, refused them access to their home saying her husband was very ill.
For 45 minutes police negotiated before they finally entered the home and confronted the horrific scenes.
Even then Golem maintained the farce that the victim was still alive. Only in August 2023 did he accept he had been lying all along.
Mr Nemes’ daughter Elizabeth Marzano said her father’s last moments haunted her.
“Did he know we loved him? Did he wonder if we had abandoned him? Most of all, did he know he was not forgotten? Those questions stay with me everyday,” she said through tears.
“If we had only known the truth, we would have moved heaven and earth to be by his side.
“This case raises issues of profound importance, and I hope it reinforces the importance of protecting vulnerable people.
Mr Nemes had been married to Dragica for 30 years and was a father figure to Golem.
Mr Nemes had a lengthy medical history including diabetes, hypertension and chronic back pain.
In their latter years the married couple who were Jehovah’s Witnesses turned away from Western medicine.
After a fall in August 2021 Mr Nemes did not want to be treated by a hospital and developed bed sores when he became bed bound.
Golem took photos of these bed sores “ until they progressed to the worst possible stage”.
While bed bound Mr Nemes began making financial investments that Golem thought were rash and jeopardising the family’s finances so he confiscated his phone.
From that point on Mr Nemes was solely reliant on those in the home for his case the court heard.
In mid February 2022 Golem assumed the role of sole carer for Mr Nemes who shortly after entered a coma and died possibly from the sepsis that had formed from the bed sores the court heard.
Barrister Martin Longhurst said the case was “horrifying and shocking” and could only be understood in terms of his client’s cognitive impairments thanks to childhood injury and worry about how his mother would deal with the death.
“It’s not alleged that my client gained from this,” he said.
“It’s not a case of animosity.
“Mr Nemes was my client’s best friend. He was his only real adult relationship. He was a father figure to my client.”
Justice Treston said the interference of a corpse was among the worst of its kind and the circumstances heinous.
“There is some explanation because of your cognitive impairment … but none of those features go to explain the depth of the deception which he engaged in even before the deceased’s death,” she said.
“The sheer length of time that the body was left to decompose is greatly disturbing. The deceased’s family was totally deprived of the opportunity of ever seeing their loved one before he was laid to rest.”
Golem was sentenced to five years for manslaughter and four years for interference with a corpse to apply cumulatively. He will be eligible for parole next month with time already served.