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22 APRIL, 2025
Come and try softball Ever wanted to play softball? The Red Sox Fastpitch softball team, which plays in Werribee, is hoping to increase participation in the Melton region and is holding a come and try day in Aintree. The event will be held at Aintree Recreation Reserve on Saturday, April 26, from 10.30am-12.30pm for anyone aged eight and above. Redsox junior development coordinator John Ballestrino said Melton is a region that hasn’t had much exposure to softball as a sport. “We’re encouraging anyone who’s keen to come along and enjoy a day out,” he said. “We thought it would be good to get the kids outside and off the computers. “It’s an inexpensive sport to get involved in. The cost of other sports can be a major barrier, but softball is more accessible, and most families can participate. “Softball is a great family sport, and there are pathways for development, even to the point of representing Australia.” The event is open to kids as young as eight years old, but everyone is welcome — including parents. Those interested can register by contacting Janine Culph at jculph@gmail.com or John Ballestrino at jballestrino@gmail.com
A come and try softball day is being held in Aintree. (Ljubica Vrankovic) 470512_01
‘Justice has been done’: Dad Phillip Crossthwaite was the one to discover his daughter’s lifeless body after she had been shot dead in her own home. Close to two decades on, he is relieved Cindy Crossthwaite’s estranged husband Emil “Bill” Petrov has finally been sentenced to 26 years behind bars for her murder. “Justice has been done and now we can finally get on with our lives again,” Mr Crossthwaite told reporters outside the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday. “It’s been so hard knowing that he was guilty from the time I found her body ... knowing that he could walk around and live a normal lifestyle while we have been suffering.”
Petrov, 61, maintains he did not kill Ms Crossthwaite, 41, at her Melton South home in June 2007, but a jury in December found him guilty of her murder. They believed the prosecution’s case that either he fired the fatal shot or enlisted another person to do so as part of a “joint criminal enterprise”. In sentencing, Justice Christopher Beale said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Petrov was the perpetrator. But the judge said he believed Petrov provided the gun to another person to carry out the killing. “At the very least, you were a party to the premeditated execution of your estranged wife,” Justice Beale said. Following their separation in 2005, Petrov
and Ms Crossthwaite had been going through Family Court proceedings over property at the time of her death. The court case was adjourned to July 2007 and prosecutors argued Petrov was aware his financial interests would be adversely affected when the proceedings resumed. On the morning of June 21, Ms Crossthwaite brought her two older children to primary school before returning to her Melton South home. Her friend tried to contact her multiple times that day and even attended the property but received no answer. Phillip Crossthwaite instead went to his daughter’s home about 4pm and let himself inside to find her lifeless body, half-covered
with a blanket on the lounge-room floor. She had been choked and shot in the head from close range, while her 13-month-old baby Jonas was found alive in a bedroom a few metres away. Petrov was arrested the next day but he told police he had an alibi and he was released without charge. It was another 12 years before he was arrested again and charged with Ms Crossthwaite’s murder. Central to the prosecution’s case was witness Brian O’Shea, who avoided a murder charge by testifying against Petrov about providing him with a gun for $3000. Continued: Page 3.
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By Tara Cosoleto, AAP