A man who kept his stepfather’s decomposing body inside the family home for more than a year has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Nikola Golem, 51, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and interfering with a corpse in connection with the death of his 69-year-old stepfather, Tomislav Nemes, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Brisbane Times and News.com.au.
Golem was sentenced Friday, July 17, but he could be released relatively soon. He will become eligible for parole on Aug. 21 after already spending three years behind bars.
During the court proceedings, Golem’s attorneys pointed to several health problems, including seizures and his need to use a wheelchair.
Nemes had been bedridden since suffering a fall the previous year. Authorities said he slipped into a coma and died around Feb. 24, 2022, at the family’s home on Australia’s Gold Coast after refusing medical treatment.
He also had diabetes, but investigators were unable to determine his exact cause of death.
After Nemes died, Golem continued living in the home with his mother, Dragica Nemes, and the body for the next 14 months.
Prosecutors said Golem repeatedly told his mother that her husband was simply resting and recovering, causing her to continue sleeping beside him.
“You seriously misled your mother,” Justice Rebecca Treston said in court. “You knew that he was dead.”
“As a result, your mother continued to sleep beside her husband’s dead body for some time until the smell of his decomposing body became too strong,” the judge added.
Nemes’ mummified remains were finally discovered during a welfare check in April 2023.
One of his daughters, Suzanna Beljanksi, had become concerned after going months without hearing from her father. Although the two had limited contact, she alerted authorities.
“Dad was not forgotten,” another daughter, Elizabeth Marzano, said in court. “We believed he was living the retirement he worked so hard to earn; we believed he was happy.”
Golem’s attorney, Martin Longhurst, argued that his client did not directly cause Nemes’ death, though he acknowledged that what happened afterward was “incredibly grotesque.”
Longhurst also told the court that Golem had suffered a serious brain injury as a child and may have had an intellectual disability.
Nemes’ daughters remembered their father as a successful businessman who moved to Australia from Croatia when he was young.
“Even today, decades later, people still approach our family and tell us their lives in Australia began because dad gave them a chance,” Marzano said.
“Helping others was simply part of who he was.”
