A Victorian woman who bashed and stuffed a sock down the throat of an 85-year-old lady, dumped her body in the river, and embarked on a wild shopping spree has been sentenced.
The body of Lolene Whitehand was found floating in the Maribyrnong River in Flemington by a fisherman on July 14, 2024.
On Thursday, her remorseless killer Milena Bogojevska, 51, appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria where she was sentenced to just eight years behind bars with a non-parole period of six years.
With 755 days already served, the remorseless killer will likely be back on the streets in under four years.
Bogojevska received the slap on the wrist after she was allowed to plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter rather than murder.
Justice Jacinta Forbes justified her sentence with some hollow words for those that loved Ms Whitehand.
‘Your sentence is not a reflection of the worth or value of Lolene Whitehand’s life. The loss of her life and the grief caused by your act is immeasurable,’ she said.
Lolene Whitehand was loved by all that knew her. In death she was denied justice
At the end of the hearing, Ms Whitehand’s daughter told her, ‘may you rot in hell.’
‘You too,’ the killer replied.
Ms Whitehand’s neighbour, Kirraly Schumann, had told the judge her family had treated Ms Whitehand like one of their own.
‘She would have given us her last dollar she had,’ she told the court through tears during a pre-sentence hearing in June.
‘She was like a grandmother to my two boys and also the other neighbours’ children … Lolen’s house is no longer standing, but we think of her every day, she’s in our hearts and we’ll never, never forget her.’
Ms Schumann failed to contain her disgust after that hearing, telling reporters outside court that Bogojevska should still face a murder charge.
‘It shouldn’t be manslaughter… it wasn’t an accident,’ she said.
In coming to her decision, Justice Forbes said she took into account the killer’s early plea, rotten childhood, and health problems, including acute kidney failure.
Milena Bogojevska, 51, was a lazy, evil thief who coldly snuffed out the life of her kindly neighbour for little more than chump change
Justice Jacinta Forbes justified her sentence with some hollow words for those that loved Ms Whitehand.
‘There is no doubt that the burden of prison is now already significantly more onerous for you because of your physical conditions, particularly your impaired kidney function,’ she said.
No explanation was given as to why the Director of Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions, Brendan Kissane KC, did not proceed with a murder trial, but the court heard it was likely to do with unanswered questions about the elderly woman’s precise cause of death.
‘Although you’ve pleaded guilty, you’ve not provided any explanation as to the circumstances in which Mrs Whitehand was killed,’ Justice Forbes said.
‘Whilst you’re not obliged to do so, your failure to do so is consistent with a continuing lack of remorse.
‘At best, your post-offence conduct was opportunistic, calculatedly self-serving, and dishonest.’
Ms Whitehand’s senseless death had shocked and outraged angry Victorians already fed up with the state’s out-of-control crime wave.
The court heard the beloved mum and neighbour had been brutally beaten before she was smothered and dumped in the Maribyrnong River, wrapped in plastic.
A blood-soaked tea towel had been rammed into her mouth.
The decision to dump the murder charge was made by the Director of Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions, Brendan Kissane KC (pictured at court on Wednesday)
Milena Bogojevska heads into the Supreme Court of Victoria in chains. She will be back on the streets in no time
The horror unfolded on 12 July when Ms Whitehand was last seen alive entering Bogojevska’s Glamis Street home, two doors down from her own, at about 4pm that day.
Her disappearance immediately concerned neighbours, who had come to adore the Glamis Street resident of 40 years.
Ms Whitehand’s body was discovered wrapped in blue plastic sheets, her head covered by a blue bag with the name ‘Anton’, Bogojevska’s 15-year-old son’s name,, scrawled in black marker.
An autopsy later revealed her cause of death as upper airway obstruction, with a blood-soaked tea towel jammed into her mouth and signs of blunt force trauma to her face.
The court heard Bogojevska wasted no time cashing in after dumping her victim’s body in the river.
Bogojevska had been receiving a disability support pension of $778 a fortnight after supposedly hurting her back while working as a cleaner.
CCTV later obtained by police suggested Bogojevska’s back was in good enough shape to drag her victim’s body out of a car boot and roll it into the river.
According to the prosecution’s summary read in court, Bogojevska burgled Ms Whitehand’s home shortly after, stealing cash, jewellery, personal documents, and her debit card.
Forensic police at the scene where Ms Whitehand’s body was found on the banks of the river
The Maribyrnong River in Melbourne
Lolene Whitehand was loyal, independent and friendly to everyone. She was killed for nothing by a useless thief and thug
She then embarked on a brazen spending spree using the dead woman’s money.
The court heard Bogojevska stole nearly $1,000 in cash from Ms Whitehand, which she had withdrawn earlier.
She blew hundreds at Kmart on a microwave and multiple gift cards in under 10 minutes, purchased lottery tickets, and went on an online shopping rampage, splashing $3,897 on items including two iPads from Amazon, Adidas men’s shoes, Nike women’s shoes, Brooks running shoes, and more across Amazon, Temu, and eBay.
The court heard Bogojevska used the stolen card even as police searched for the missing pensioner.
‘I got no money … Give me money and I’ll shop,’ Bogojevska later told detectives as they were uncovering the stolen goods hidden in her home.
Her son Anton, then aged 15 and on school holidays, had been blissfully unaware of what his mother was up to.
The court heard he had been in his bedroom, glued to computer games with headphones on that blocked out the world.
He couldn’t hear the doorbell and his mother had to routinely thump on his door to get his attention.
When police arrested Anton in connection with the case, he was interviewed and completely cleared.
Lolene Whitehand didn’t stand a chance against her evil killer
He had no knowledge or involvement.
The court heard Anton’s computer records confirmed he was gaming at the time Ms Whitehand entered the property.
He later went to a friend’s birthday party and the gym, completely oblivious to the nightmare unfolding at home.
Bogojevska was arrested on 16 July and initially told a web of lies to police.
She claimed she hadn’t seen Ms Whitehand for a week, denied entering her home, denied using her card, and even faked a limp when brought into the station – despite striding normally in CCTV footage captured at the time of the crime.
‘No, I can guarantee you with my own life. I can guarantee you with my own son (I’m telling the truth),’ she told police.
‘I don’t know anything about it. I’m hearing now from you. I never heard of it.’
When asked about the bag found on Ms Whitehand’s head bearing her son’s name, Bogojevska continued to play dumb.
Milena Bogojevska will probably walk free in under four years
‘I threw this out a long time ago, ages ago,’ she insisted.
‘No, this has been gone more than seven, eight months … I swear to God, this bag with a lot of other items, that was thrown in the charity bin.’
Forensic evidence aired in court painted a damning picture: DNA linking Bogojevska and Ms Whitehand was found on gloves in a stolen floral bag, the tea towel found stuffed in her victim’s mouth, blood in Bogojevska’s bedroom, and in the boot of her grey Holden Captiva – the car used to transport the body.
A series of heart-wrenching victim impact statements from Ms Whitehand’s devastated family and neighbours were read to the court.
In another tragedy, the court heard Ms Whitehand’s son, a retired paramedic, died just two days before the June pre-sentence hearing.
He expressed profound sadness over the violent manner of his mother’s death, ongoing nightmares, guilt over lying to his aunt about the cause of death, and difficulty being near rivers.
‘I have trouble sleeping as I keep picturing my mother being found in the river. I have a fair idea, from being a paramedic, what my mother’s body would have looked like,’ he said from beyond the grave.
Bogojevska’s barrister Amy Brennan had claimed her client’s crime did not fall into the worst category of manslaughter and asked she be imposed the minimum term of imprisonment necessary.
She provided the court with a bleeding heart tale of hardship dating back to childhood when she immigrated to Australia from Macedonia.
Ms Brennan claimed the prosecution could never have proved beyond reasonable doubt her client had murdered Ms Whitehand.
She further claimed her client’s lack of remorse ought not be used against her.
‘A lack of remorse is relevant, but is not an aggravating feature,’ she insisted.
