The disappearance
Đorđe Andrejić, 13, left Majilovac with his mother Marina on July 22, 2010, heading toward fields outside the village. Marina returned two days later without him. A large search followed, involving police, local residents and other searchers.
Within days Marina was detained. Investigators said she made a statement implicating herself in her son's death. During the later court proceedings, however, she withdrew that account and said it had been obtained through mistreatment. The final appellate judgment did not accept the confession as reliable proof of murder.
The skull and unresolved cause of death
On November 7, 2010, hunters found a skull in the Majilovac area. Reporting at the time said DNA testing by the University of Belgrade Faculty of Biology identified it as belonging to Đorđe. The rest of his body was not recovered in the search described by the court reporting.
The finding did not establish how Đorđe died. Forensic evidence became a central problem for the prosecution: an appellate court noted that the first trial judgment had not adequately reconciled the alleged mechanism of death with the absence of the expected injury pattern on the recovered skull.
Two convictions, both overturned
The Higher Court in Požarevac convicted Marina Andrejić and sentenced her to 20 years in prison. In October 2011, the Belgrade Court of Appeal overturned that judgment and ordered a retrial, directing the lower court to resolve major unanswered forensic questions.
A second first-instance trial again resulted in a 20-year sentence. But the appellate court then conducted its own evidentiary hearing and reached a different conclusion. On July 3, 2012, Marina was finally acquitted and released after nearly two years in detention.
The Supreme Court confirms the acquittal
The Serbian public prosecutor challenged the final acquittal through an extraordinary legal remedy. On May 27, 2013, Serbia's Supreme Court of Cassation rejected that challenge as unfounded.
The high court said the appellate court had examined the collected evidence and explained why there was doubt about the truthfulness of Marina's earlier confession. It also affirmed the finding that the prosecution had not proved that she killed Đorđe in the manner alleged, and that the cause of his death could not be established with the necessary certainty.
Timeline
July 22, 2010: Đorđe disappears after going toward fields near Majilovac with his mother.
July 25, 2010: Marina Andrejić is arrested during the investigation.
November 7, 2010: hunters find a skull in the search area; contemporary reporting says later DNA testing identifies it as Đorđe's.
2011: Marina is convicted and sentenced to 20 years; the Belgrade Court of Appeal overturns the judgment and orders a retrial.
December 2011: a second first-instance conviction again imposes 20 years.
July 3, 2012: the Court of Appeal acquits Marina and orders her release.
May 27, 2013: the Supreme Court of Cassation rejects the prosecutor's extraordinary challenge and leaves the acquittal intact.
Current classification
The case is classified Unsolved / Partial. The available record supports that Đorđe disappeared and that remains linked to him by DNA were recovered, but it does not establish a judicially proven killer or a certain mechanism of death. Marina Andrejić's two earlier convictions were displaced by a final acquittal that Serbia's highest court upheld.
Sources
- Radio Television of Vojvodina / Tanjug — May 27, 2013: Supreme Court of Cassation confirms the acquittal
- Radio Television of Vojvodina / Tanjug — October 5, 2011: first 20-year conviction overturned and retrial ordered
- Blic / Tanjug — July 4, 2012: final appellate acquittal and evidence summary
- Blic — November 18, 2010: DNA identification of the recovered skull and forensic uncertainty