Novy Aristananda CHARDON

QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE

MURDER OF

Novy Aristananda Chardon

$250,000 REWARD

REWARD:

The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services has approved a reward of $250,000 be offered for information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Novy Aristananda Chardon at Upper Coomera on the 6th February 2013.

INDEMNITY FROM PROSECUTION:

In addition, an appropriate indemnity from prosecution will be recommended for any accomplice, not being the person who actually committed the crime, who first gives such information. The allocation of the $250,000 reward will be at the sole discretion of the Commissioner of the Police Service.

CIRCUMSTANCES:

At 11pm Wednesday, 6 February 2013, Novy Aristananda CHARDON arrived home to 93 Bridie Drive, Upper Coomera. She was noticed missing at about 6am the next day. Police believe the circumstances of her disappearance are suspicious. Her vehicle, a 2009 Dark Blue XC90 Volvo (860LTZ) was located in Bowden Street, Nerang at 5.25pm on Monday 11 February 2013. .

Any member of the public with information which could assist Police is asked to contact:

• the Coomera Criminal Investigation Branch, Phone (07) 55147755;

• the Homicide Investigation Group, Brisbane, Phone (07) 3364 4150;

• any Police Station; or

• Crime Stoppers, Phone 1800 333 000.

Office of the Commissioner of the Police Service,

I STEWART BRISBANE.

COMMISSIONER

Novy Chardon: Search for Gold Coast woman 'not over' two years after disappearance

Updated 5 Feb 2015, 9:25pmThu 5 Feb 2015, 9:25pm

It has been two years since Gold Coast woman Novy Chardon disappeared, with police fearing she was murdered.

Detectives are convinced more than one person is behind her death and her killers are still at large.

Her husband John Chardon has previously been named by his own lawyer as the chief suspect, although Mr Chardon denies any involvement.

Ms Chardon, 34, was last seen on security footage paying for fuel at a Gold Coast service station the night she vanished: February 6, 2013.

Her car was found abandoned at Nerang train station days later.

The mother of two's body has never been found despite an extensive search of a property last week at Advancetown in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Just two days after Ms Chardon disappeared, her husband travelled to Indonesia on business with their two children.

The couple was on the brink of divorce after an 11-year marriage, Mr Chardon was 31 years her senior and had made his money on industrial lubricants.

Police said he was still one of many suspects, despite Mr Chardon denying any involvement in her death.

Detective Superintendent David Hutchinson said her killers were still at large.

A $250,000 reward is on offer and anyone who knew how she was killed but was not directly involved would be offered indemnity if they came forward.

"We are convinced that there are people out there in the public who know more information and haven't come forward," Det Supt Hutchinson.

"We have progressed quite significantly over the last two years and we still have a number of avenues to follow.

"The efforts we've put in so far would show the commitment that the detectives have. It's not over yet, we still have inquires to go."

There have been a number of breakthroughs in the case, but they are yet to lead to any real evidence that would result in a conviction.

Last year, police dug up a yard at Mount Nathan in the Gold Coast hinterland after a tip-off; where they found parts of a ute which they believe was in the area the night Ms Chardon disappeared.

Police have also made inquiries in Ms Chardon's home country of Indonesia, where she met her husband and where her family lives.

Qld murder trial hears of box with guns

Qld murder trial hears of iPad in river

John Chardon found guilty of manslaughter over wife Novy's 2013 disappearance

Gold Coast millionaire businessman John Chardon has been found not guilty of the murder of his estranged wife, but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Mother-of-two Novy Chardon was 34 when she went missing from the couple's home in Upper Coomera in February 2013 — hours after Chardon received a letter from his wife's divorce lawyer.

The 72-year-old businessman had pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane to murdering his fifth wife Novy and spent three days in the witness box protesting his innocence, claiming she had simply packed her bags and left.

A jury deliberated for more than nine hours before acquitting him of the charge of murder and instead finding him guilty of manslaughter.

There were gasps in the courtroom when the verdict was read out.

Chardon showed no emotion from the dock upon hearing the jury's decision.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Over the course of three weeks, the trial heard from more than 70 witnesses, with details of the couple's unravelling marriage — and Ms Chardon's fear of her husband — laid bare in court.

But jurors were not allowed to know about conman Peter Foster's claim during the committal hearing in 2018 that Mr Chardon purportedly confessed to the killing while the pair shared a jail cell in 2015.

The committal hearing was told the alleged discussion was not recorded by listening devices and Mr Foster was cross-examined on why it didn't match his prison notes.

The alleged confession was never revealed to the jury after Mr Foster's evidence was excluded before the trial got underway on the basis a court could not be satisfied that it occurred.

Chardon called himself a 'philanthropist'

Chardon's Filipino associate Marshall Aguilor — they met through a dating website — testified that Chardon had asked him to find a hit man to get rid of Ms Chardon while she was overseas that same year.

Mr Aguilor told the court Chardon sent him money to buy a gun, but that he never carried out the purchase.

When Chardon took the stand, he denied ever broaching the topic with Mr Aguilor.

Chardon had claimed to be a philanthropist who supported disadvantaged Filipinos, but admitted having sex with "some" of them.

In his closing address, prosecutor Mark Green said Ms Chardon had been upset with the situation and was ready to move on from "the dark shadow cast by John Chardon".

"She was looking forward to ending the worst part of her life ... and was taking the final steps ... to put him behind her," Mr Green told jurors.

'Furious' over pending divorce

On February 6, 2013 — the same day Ms Chardon's divorce lawyer sent Chardon a letter stating she wanted 50 per cent of his assets — she disappeared.

Mr Green suggested Chardon was "furious" because he believed his wife was trying to control access to their children — a claim Chardon rejected.

The court heard the night he is thought to have killed her, Chardon drove to his Loganholme factory and spent 80 seconds inside.

The trial also heard Chardon asked his adult daughters to hold, and then get rid of, a box thought to contain handcuffs and gun parts.

Mr Green told jurors it was not known how Chardon killed his wife, or where, but said urine on the carpet suggested he had done something to frighten her.

"It may be less likely he would have taken the risk [of] killing her in the bedroom, but maybe he did, and if he did he killed her in such a way that he didn't leave blood all over the floor," he said.

The court heard the businessman hired a carpet-cleaning machine the following morning, and propositioned a his wife's friend when she visited the house to check on Ms Chardon when she failed to appear for a coffee date.

Chardon's defence team contended Ms Chardon was either still alive, or voluntarily left the house that night and died from a cause unrelated to Chardon.

He was arrested and charged with Ms Chardon's murder in 2016.

Despite a highly publicised police investigation and multiple searches, her body has never been found.

John Chardon jailed for 15 years for wife Novy's manslaughter

Gold Coast millionaire businessman John Chardon, who killed his estranged wife Novy, discarded her body, and then wove a "calculated web of lies", has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Chardon, 72, was found not guilty on Monday of the murder of Novy, his fifth wife, but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The 34-year-old mother of two vanished from the couple's Upper Coomera home on the northern Gold Coast in February 2013, and despite extensive searches her body has never been found.

Throughout the trial Chardon denied any involvement in her disappearance and maintained that she told him she was leaving — a story condemned by the judge as "a fanciful story".

In sentencing him, Justice Ann Lyons said a "defenceless" Novy would have died "violently" yet "silently", before Chardon disposed of all evidence and then "calmly" went about his life.

"You killed her just as she had taken the first steps [towards] finalising proceedings for divorce.

"Novy was entitled to … plan a life without you."

Justice Lyons also noted Chardon must have received "some assistance" in moving Novy's body, her possessions, and her car that night.

She also said the fact he then propositioned his wife's best friend the next day revealed "so much" about his character.

'You've never confessed'

Branding Chardon a practiced liar, Justice Lyons also condemned the industrial lubricant manufacturer for leading their two children to believe Novy did not love them and had abandoned them.

"They were lies," she said.

"The record must be corrected … [and] at some time in the future, I hope Novy's children will read these sentencing remarks and know that she did not abandon them —she loved them fiercely.

"She was a devoted mother and a dear friend to many people."

The court heard Novy's friends testified the beautician had been "fearful" of Chardon in the lead-up to the death, and had taken clear steps to move on with her life when it was cut short.

"She had set up her business, she finally had her ABN, and she was trying to establish her independence," Justice Lyons said.

Justice Lyons told Chardon only he knew what transpired that night.

"We will never know what happened [to her]. You do. You've never confessed," she told him.

She said it was clear from the verdict that while jurors found Chardon killed his wife, they were not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he intended to cause her death or cause grievous bodily harm.

'One selfish and sickening act'

In the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, one of Novy's friends read aloud an emotional victim impact statement to the court, saying Novy would never be able to witness her children's milestones because of "one selfish and sickening act".

"You [John Chardon] took away a daughter, a mother, a sister and a best friend," she told the court.

The court also heard a statement penned by Novy's mother, who lives in Indonesia, detailing her grief.

"Novy appears in my dreams — even as the years pass, I am in deep sorrow," she wrote.