The grieving mother of murdered woman Celeste Manno has revealed how the justice system failed her daughter, who was stalked and murdered by an obsessed co-worker.
Aggie Di Mauro told 60 Minutes her 23-year-old daughter had done everything she could to stop Luay Nader Sako from harassing her, but it wasn’t enough.
In November 2020, the 35-year-old broke into Celeste’s home in the middle of the night and murdered her while she slept.
Last week, Justice Jane Dixon sentenced Sako to 36 years behind bars for the ‘appalling crime’.
Celeste Manno’s mother, Aggie Di Mauro (both pictured), has claimed the justice system failed her daughter after her killer avoided life in prison last month
But Ms Di Mauro said it wasn’t enough.
‘The victim doesn’t exist, all of it has been shocking and it’s just wrong,’ Ms Di Mauro told 60 Minutes.
‘There is nothing that is about the victim.’
She claims the criminal justice system has failed her daughter a second time by showing her killer mercy.
Justice Dixon had declined to sentence Sako to a life sentence on February 29 after finding he had significant mental disorders which had impaired his judgement.
Ms Di Mauro said Sako deserved to spend life in prison for brutally cutting her daughter’s life so short.
Sako had worked with his victim at a cell centre and developed romantic feelings for her.
He sent Celeste numerous messages on social media, which she politely rebuffed. He was not deterred.
In July 2020, Celeste called police out of fear for her safety.
Ms Di Mauro said she thought Sako had ‘learned his lesson’ and ‘got scared’ to not contact her daughter again.
‘Everything stops. He disappears. We literally thought it was over,’ she said.
But around four months later, Sako tracked her to her house, climbed through her bedroom window, and stabbed her to death.
‘Never, ever did it occur to me… ..that this beast would be capable of something like this,’ Ms Di Mauro said.
Sako (pictured in handcuffs) was refused a life sentence on February 29 after it was determined he had significant mental disorders which had impaired his judgement
Ms Di Mauro said the attention Celeste received from him was neither desired nor reciprocated.
She said Sako had made her daughter’s life miserable, but police didn’t initially take the young woman’s complaints seriously.
The grieving mother called for reform of stalking laws and the way in which police respond to alleged victims.
‘I promised Celeste that I would get her justice one way or another,’ Ms Di Mauro said.
The Victoria’s Law Reform Commission launched an inquiry in the wake of Celeste’s murder, with 45 recommendations from the report since being adopted.
But Ms Di Mauro said she’s been left disappointed with the delays in the introduction of such reform since her daughter’s death nearly four years ago.
‘I was made commitments, promises and, silly me, I believed it all,’ she said.
‘And we know that, right now, if Celeste’s situation was occurring – in the same way – it would happen again.’
