The trial of Milenko Snjegota has concluded its second day. Photo: Sang Hyun Cho, Pixabay.
Neighbours have shared Milenko Snjegota’s bizarre behaviour with Wollongong Court on the second day of his trial.
Milenko, aged 49, also known as Gobesan, of Primrose Place, Farmborough Heights, stands accused of the murder of his father, 74-year-old Vitomir ‘Vic’ Snjegota.
Vic was found beaten to death in the backyard of his home on 4 February 2024.
Milenko has plead not guilty to murder.
Maria Brown and her husband Sid Brown were neighbours of the Snjegota family for 40 years.
Maria said the Snjegotas were an ordinary family, but when Milenko became a teenager his behaviour changed, and he had loud arguments with his dad.
By the early 2000s Milenko’s mother and sister had moved out of the family home. Later, Vic moved into a self-contained downstairs flat on the property.
“I remember Mile [Milenko] would wear the sperm suit, a checkered orange vest and gloves,” Maria said.
“He covered all the windows, and covered the front balcony with a tarp weighed down with bottles hanging from it.
“There was a white sheet on the back balcony covering the upstairs back door.
“He would play the ‘Barbie’ song over and over. He would sometimes jump behind my car as I was reversing out and scare the crap out of me.”
The court heard the “sperm suit” was a reference to a disposable white hazmat suit complete with mask and hood Milenko habitually wore.
Sid said Milenko would often feed birds and possums by throwing food in the front yard, where it would rot.
“I had a few discussions with him mainly about making a damn mess, throwing food out the front of our place and feeding the birds,” Sid said.
“I told him if he didn’t feed them with the proper stuff he would kill them, and mess would bring rats to the house, things like that.
“He stuck his finger up but he didn’t say anything.”
Sid said he had also heard loud arguments between Milenko and his father, with the most recent argument some months before Vic’s death.
Simon Dunne lived a street over, and his back fence was adjacent to the Snjegotas’ back fence.
He told the court he also saw the white sheet covering the back door.
He often saw Milenko around the neighbourhood in his gloves and white hazmat suit.
Simon said he noticed a number of strange things happening at the Snjegota home.
“Strobe lighting would come on in the middle of the night,” he said.
“It was like he was running a nightclub, but there was never any noise.
“I thought the house was on fire once. There was a bad chemical smell and then another, six to 12 months before the incident.
“I called the fire brigade on both occasions.”
The Crown prosecution team tendered body cam footage from police taken the day Vic’s body was found as evidence.
The footage shows Vic’s body lying in a lush backyard full of fruit trees.
He is mostly covered by a large white sheet with dark marks on it. Nearby him is a mower, and a strip has been mown out of the knee-high grass.
An old outdoor table and other items are scattered about the yard.
In the footage, police go up the back stairs and knock on the door. It’s answered by a dishevelled Milenko in white gloves, an orange top and shoes without laces.
One officer goes into the house, which is decorated with a large ‘Barbie’ sign in each room and some small religious paintings on the walls.
In the footage Milenko asks the officers several times if his dad is alive.
Zarko Romic was also called to give evidence – he was not a neighbour, but a friend of Vic’s.
The two men grew up in the same village in Bosnia, the court heard, and reconnected when they both settled in Wollongong.
“Milenko was crazy all the time,” Zarko told the court.
“Vito would say he was not worried because he was stronger than Milenko.
“I never saw them physically fight.”
Zarko said Vic made pickled cabbages and chillies.
“Beautiful, the best sauerkraut you could have,” he said.
“I really loved him.”
The trial continues.
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