The case of a man accused of murder is moving forward as he is set to face trial over the death of a young woman, whose lifeless body was discovered at a waste disposal site.

Prosecutors claim that Marat Ganiev, 53, is responsible for the death of 19-year-old Isla Bell, allegedly occurring in the early hours of October 7, 2024. They assert that he concealed her body in a refrigerator before it was eventually found six weeks later at a rubbish tip in the southeast of Melbourne.

Ganiev’s defense attorney, Sally Flynn KC, contested the prosecution’s case, arguing that it relied solely on circumstantial evidence. She maintained that the authorities could not definitively prove Ganiev’s involvement in Bell’s death, suggesting that a drug overdose could not be ruled out as a possible cause.

Despite these arguments, Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz determined that there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial at the Victorian Supreme Court.

She said the police could not prove the 53-year-old caused Bell’s death and it could not be excluded that Bell died from a drug overdose.

But magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz today ruled there was sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial in the Victorian Supreme Court.

She agreed the case was circumstantial but said it should be left to a jury to decide whether Ganiev was guilty or should be acquitted. 

Ganiev was then committed to stand trial after formally pleading not guilty to the murder of Bell.

Mykytowycz also committed his co-accused Eyal Yaffe to trial on the charges of assisting an offender and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Prosecutors claim Yaffe helped move the fridge that contained Bell’s remains after the alleged murder.

The two men will face a pre-trial directions hearing in the Supreme Court on November 18.