Unknown details about Mihaela’s murder: ‘The gun was on the table, and his hands smelled of soap’

– I deny that there was an intent to murder – he said at the beginning of the new trial, which began this month because the High Criminal Court canceled the previously imposed sentence of 18 years in prison. The High Criminal Court considers that the Osijek court did not adequately analyze the key forensic findings, the position of the bodies of the accused and the victim immediately before the shot was fired, and that they did not analyze the interpersonal relationship and relationship that the perpetrator and the victim had at that time.

The photo that Mihaela sent to her friend nine minutes before her death, which shows her and Smažil holding hands, is also disputed. So, there was no previous conflict. Because of all this, the trial is now being conducted before another court panel, but also with the decision that the public will be able to attend the hearings, except for those parts that would threaten the dignity of the victim.

Accordingly, it was agreed that not all witnesses will be called to court again, but only experts, and that the witness statements will be read in front of a new panel.

Journalists thus had the opportunity to hear what Smažil’s neighbors in Cvjetkova Street, where the murder took place, as well as Mihaela’s parents, said about the incident. Her mother Jadranka explained how Mihaela told them on the fateful day that she was going to work and left the apartment in the afternoon. After she didn’t come home until 10:30 p.m., they went looking for her. Unfortunately, the police told them that she was dead, but also that it was probably a word. about suicide. They could not accept it. She also explained how then there were painful days for them because they got most of the information from the media. They did not know Smažil and Mihaela never mentioned him to them, but her friends knew about him because she complained to them about his aggressive and possessive behavior.

The police also tried to present the case to the public as a suicide, and then as an unfortunate case, all because Marko Smažil gave different statements in the investigation. It was also suspicious that, after firing the shot, he washed his hands and his official uniform.

At the trial, Smažil’s neighbors and colleagues said that he was always calm, polite, kind and ready to help. They couldn’t fathom that he could kill someone.

– Marko was my friend, we used to hang out. I knew that he had a girlfriend with whom he was intimate, but also that she was younger than him, that she used to send him abusive messages. They had been seeing each other for several weeks – Ana Kapošin said in court, adding that Marko was never aggressive, possessive or jealous.

In sentencing Smažil, the testimony given in court by the policeman who was the leader of the obvious team was significant.

– There was a gun on the table in the living room, and the body of a dead girl with a bloody head was lying on the corner sofa in a sitting position. Smažil was in the corridor; he did not behave as people who have experienced suicide usually behave, he was not in shock, he was very collected, without emotions regarding the event. I took forensic marks from his hands. I asked him if he touched any of the objects in the room and if he washed his hands after the incident. He stretched out his hands towards me and I smelled the fresh scent of soap. The traces of blood in the apartment, the injury of the victim and the trace of ammunition after the shooting suggested that it was not a suicide and I ordered that Smažil be treated as the perpetrator of the murder. It could not be a case of suicide or an accident, because at the time of the shot she was sitting slightly forward, and because of the marks of the entrance and exit wound. The barrel of the gun was pointed from top to bottom, and the perpetrator was close to the victim – described police officer Goran Žulj.

He also said that there was a gun on the table in the living room, and next to it a magazine with 16 pieces of ammunition, while there was a belt on the bed in the bedroom. for a gun and another magazine of ammunition.

– We also noticed that the washing machine had just washed the laundry, namely the police uniform. There was also a wet paper towel soaked in blood in the bathroom. I also found gravity drops on the ground in the living room. They were of such a shape as if they had fallen from a person who was in motion or from some object that the suspect was carrying. The body of the victim was not moved – said Ulj and added that no police officer should be allowed to handle a weapon in violation of the four rules.

– He knew those rules, so I believe that he purposefully loaded the gun – said the witness.

– We file an objection because this witness overstepped his competences, and expert reports disputed some of his claims. The witness cannot testify about the psycho-physical state of the accused after the crime started – Smažil’s lawyer said afterwards.

The co-examination continues with the reading of the statements of Mihaela’s friends, and the key point will be the examination of experts.