Nine will screen a two-part documentary Murder, Lies & Alibis over two nights in February.
The extraordinary and exclusive inside story of the murder of Australian businessman Phillip Vasyli, stabbed to death on the patio of his paradise island luxury mansion, is a story of fabulous wealth, infidelity, secret recordings, betrayal, death threats and uncontrollable rage.
The handsome podiatrist, who grew up in Sydney’s western suburbs to build a $600 million fortune with his glamorous wife Donna, was knifed in the neck from behind by a callous killer who then stood and watched him bleed to death.
The full story behind this 2015 murder, which made worldwide headlines, is revealed for the first time in cutting-edge new documentary crime series, Murder, Lies & Alibis, screening over two powerful nights on Monday, February 4 and Tuesday, February 5 at 9pm on Nine and 9Now.
The gripping must see first episode contains bombshell new evidence that blows the case wide open. Episode two builds to a sensational climax that uncovers the dramatic secret, which provides a totally new motive for the high stakes murder.
Phillip Vasyli’s blonde socialite wife of 35 years was found guilty of murdering him at their oceanside dream home on ‘billionaire’s row’ in the Bahamas. After serving five months of a 20-year jail sentence Donna Vasyli is currently on bail waiting to find out if she will have to face another jury after her conviction was ruled unsafe and quashed.
Police remain adamant it is an open and shut case and the 58-year-old grandmother is the killer but if the Privy Council, the Commonwealth’s highest court, rules she has no case to answer she will win her freedom and become one of Australia’s wealthiest widows.
Donna, who passionately maintains her innocence, chose not to give evidence at her trial but Murder, Lies & Alibis presents jaw dropping recordings and messages from her in which she lifts the lid on her toxic marriage and rages at her philandering husband and his new lovers.
Murder, Lies & Alibi’s investigates who else, if not Donna, could have got close enough to super fit Phillip Vasyli, a martial arts champion, to deliver the fatal blow?
Award winning journalist Mark Llewellyn, Nine’s Creative Director for News and Current Affairs, travels half way around the world with a team of experienced investigators in pursuit of the truth. Despite being warned off, they go to Nassau and gain access to the high security gated estate where the Vasyli’s lived in luxury overlooking one of the most beautiful and exclusive beaches on the planet.
It’s a rock star lifestyle of private jets, super yachts, Lamborghinis and outrageous parties. They track down Phillip Vasyli’s closest friends at the time of his death and get their startling new evidence on the record. Sunnie Heng, the woman Phillip Vasyli was divorcing Donna to be with, breaks her silence for the first time to reveal everything the court didn’t get to hear.
Mark Llewellyn says: “This is a nail-biting investigation with more twists and turns than a Shakespearean tragedy. The stories we discovered have never been heard until now. At every turn these gripping first-hand accounts brought us closer to the truth.”
Murder, Lies & Alibis will dissect the most infamous criminal cases in a tenacious, and confronting format. It’s true crime like you’ve never seen before, with each episode uniquely recounted through the eyes of the key players: victims, survivors, families and friends, and in some cases, the prime suspects themselves.
Murder, Lies & Alibis – The Phillip Vasyli Murder will screen over two powerful nights on Monday, February 4 and Tuesday, February 5 at 9pm on Nine and 9Now.
