Jelka Pesic

You would think that with all of the true crime I read about nothing surprises me anymore. In part that is true I suppose but there are certain types of cases in which I simply cannot wrap my head around. These are the cases where family members either gang up together or take it upon themselves to kill someone after they have divorced a family member and there is a custody battle for a child. The most surprising about cases such as these is the age of the person who is accused of being the driving force behind the murder, or sometimes attempted murder. Murder between couples, especially when there is a custody battle going on is not that uncommon, nor necessarily is the fact that the murder is carried out with other family members at least knowing about the crime, if not helping at the very least of covering things up. And yet, they still amaze me in some way. I suppose it is the fact that more than one person in a family can go to the extent of murdering someone for their own gain in some way. In so many of the cases such as these, while one or more people are convicted of the crime, the overwhelming consensus is that not everyone involved have faced justice. The case in death of Alexandra, aka Sandra, Pesic near Vancouver Canada is just such a case.

Alexandra and her mother met a woman named Jelka Pesic at their church in 1987. They seemed to bond right away because both families had immigrated at some point from Serbia and spoke the language. The Pesic family were apparently at least moderately wealthy and Alexandra was a former beauty queen. The Pesic family owned an automotive repair company and it just so happened that Alexandra was looking to have some work done. It was not long before Alexandra went to Sam and Son's the company owned by the Pesic's and met Jelka's son, Joe. The couple seemed to hit it off rather quickly and within a month were engaged to be married. But, even before their marriage in June of 1988 Alexandra was having doubts about the relationship. Although it seemed that the doubts were less about Joe, than they were about Jelka. Jelka had already began showing an extreme desire of control over the couple and it appears from Alexandra's perspective all the men in the family, including Joe, his father and his brother, all but stepped aside and allowed Jelka to do as she pleased. As an independent woman Alexandra was less apt to conform to everything Jelka wanted, and of course there were issues with the fact that Joe would not stand up to his mother. However, putting her reservations aside the two were married June 11, 1988.

Instead of things getting better as far as Jelka, they only seemed to get worse. Some reports state that Jelka and Sam bought Joe and Alexandra a lavish house, while other reports indicate that they simply helped with a down payment on the home. Regardless it appears it did not matter to Jelka that the home, while she may have even bought it, would not be her home. According to reports Jelka refused to even allow Alexandra to decorate the home as she picked out everything. This of course was a thorn in Alexandra's side. With the birth of the couple's son, Brandon, things only seemed to get worse. Jelka's need for control did not end with Joe and Alexandra or their things but also their son. The story is that Jelka did not make suggestions to things, she made demands. And, she expected those things to simply be done and not questioned.

By 1992 Joe and Alexandra's marriage had ended in divorce. But, that too did not stop Jelka. She began (and apparently continues) to tell everyone that Alexandra had only married Joe for their money. In the divorce Alexandra had been entitled to half of the equity of the home the two shared and Jelka was not quiet in her belief that was not fair. Then of course there was the issue of custody and care of Brandon, who by now was three years old. Alexandra had received custody of Brandon and apparently Joe was ordered to pay $650.00 a month in child support. This too apparently was a thorn in the side of of the Pesic family. By all appearance Joe was not paying the support to Alexandra and whether he was attempting to obtain custody solely for the reason of not having to pay the support is unknown.

On August 5, 1992 Alexandra was going to her car outside the dental office she worked in Coquillam, basically a suburb of Vancouver when she was shot and killed. In the days proceeding her murder Alexandra had experience some strange and sometimes scary situations. First a tree in her yard had been set on fire. Then one evening she was chased home (whether it was by foot or vehicle is unknown). She had also noticed a car that had been following her. At some point she wrote down the license plate of this car and it is said that this action is what eventually solved her own murder.

Upon her murder, the one thing I find interesting is that apparently Joe not only did not receive custody of Brandon, even immediately, but he never fought for him again. Alexandra's mother obtained custody of Brandon and as of 2008, when Brandon was 19 years old and testified in a hearing against his grandmother, Jelka, stated he had never seen his father again following the death of his mother. In the same respect however, according to Alexandra's mother she did continue to attempt to obtain the child support due from Joe and that in all the years since she had seen him three times in court, all while he continued to attempt to evade the then nearly $80,000 he owed.

Investigators almost immediately began surveillance on the vehicle attached to the license plate number Alexandra had documented as following her. They were able to find the owner that car, Milan Nenadic and they followed him. While doing this they observed Nenadic meeting with Jelka Pesic. Jelka would be arrested on August 15^th some ten days after the murder. Along with Jelka there were other arrests, including Nenadic, two men (of whom I did not find the name) that were allegedly hired by Nenadic, as well as both Sam and Joe Pesic.

Searching this case was difficult on several levels. First is the fact that it took place in Canada which has a different justice system than the United States, something that I, and I suspect many of the readers, are more familiar with. Secondly, because it is a case that took place outside the country finding information on many of the details, as well as the other suspects aside from Jelka Pesic was made more difficult. I think we can all agree that sensationalism sells and the sensationalism here revolves around a domineering mother in law who took matters into her own hands in hiring someone to murder her ex-daughter in law. The bigger question is what was the true motive behind this murder? Was it money? Was Jelka and/or Sam and Joe simply upset at what Alexandra got within the divorce, including the equity of the home and force Joe to pay child support? Was it because Jelka so, not just wanted, but expected control over anyone and everyone and Alexandra did not fall in line? Was it because Jelka felt her family was too prestigious and this divorce in itself was a mar on their reputation? These are all questions that will likely never be answered. As of 2008 Jelka was still denying responsibility.

Jelka went on trial in 1993 and was ultimately convicted on the charge of first degree murder for hire. It was determined that she had given Milan Nenadic approximately $300,000 to orchestrate the murder of Alexandra. Nenadic had gone on to hire two other people to carry out the murder, but he obviously was involved in some way considering that Alexandra had seen his car following her. Canada, like the United States, had abolished the death penalty in the 1970's but it was never re-instated. The penalty for first degree murder was a mandatory life sentence with parole possible after twenty-five years. They did however enact something called “faint hope cause” which allowed an inmate to ask to be released early after serving fifteen years. Apparently, unlike the United States, this required something like a trial as a jury heard arguments and decided the person's fate. In 2008 Jelka applied for this saying that she was in ill health. Her grandson Brandon testified and it was here that he had mentioned that he had not seen his father, until that day in court, since the day his mother died. Alexandra's mother also spoke, in essence giving what American's call an impact statement. Jelka also apparently testified on her own behalf. The jury deliberated and decided to deny Jelka parole stating that she failed to take responsibility for her actions. She is eligible to try again in 2018 for parole.

In 1998 Alexandra's mother had sued Jelka, and apparently the rest of the family for wrongful death. After going through the courts for several years the case was settled in 2003 for $350,000. When Brandon turned nineteen years old in 2008 he received $183,000.

Whether Jelka orchestrated the murder of Alexandra out of greed or anger is unknown but most believe that at the very least her husband Sam, and son Joe, were more involved than investigators could ever prove. Many point to Joe's lack of contact with his son over the years as showing that the custody battle was all about money and control as opposed to caring about his child and that that behavior had been passed down to him through at least his mother.