A man who choked his estranged wife to death and hid the body in the basement of a home in Melbourne's north has made a last-minute decision to plead guilty to murder, moments before his criminal trial was to begin.
On Monday, a jury was set to be empanelled when Zoran Pandilovski told the Supreme Court he would plead guilty to murdering Elaine Pandilovski in July 2020.
During a separate trial last week — which was aborted — Pandilovski pleaded not guilty to murder, but admitted committing manslaughter.
However, prosecutors decided to pursue the more serious charge of murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life behind bars.
Pandilovski will be remanded in custody and is scheduled to face a pre-sentence hearing on June 23.
Last week, the Supreme Court heard Pandilovski arrived at the Mill Park home of his estranged wife about 7:45am on July 14, 2020.
Prosecutors alleged he choked her to death and moved the body to the basement in an attempt to conceal it.
Her body was discovered by police later that night, after they went to the home to perform a welfare check. An autopsy found the cause of death was "compression to the neck".
In the hours after the killing, Pandilovski was involved in a high-speed car crash at Mount Cottrell, about 50 kilometres away from the murder scene, which left two people injured.
A motive for the murder was not aired in open court.
However, during Pandilovski's first court hearing in 2020, his lawyer said the offending occurred "in the context of supposed domestic violence".
Ms Pandilovski, an education support worker and mother of one, had been separated from her husband for about 18 months when the murder occurred.
