Explosive new claims emerge as Melissa Caddick's husband Anthony Koletti battles allegation he shoved elderly lady

By MIKLOS BOLZA FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 00:16, 12 June 2026 | Updated: 00:16, 12 June 2026 As 73-year-old Julie Brandon was walking her dog during a peaceful stroll through a park, she claims she was violently shoved to the ground. Her alleged attacker, Anthony Koletti, is the husband of Melissa Caddick, a self-styled financial adviser who vanished in 2020 and is presumed dead after defrauding $23 million from family and friends. The 44-year-old hair stylist is accused of shoulder-barging Ms Brandon from behind and failing to stop as he continued on his evening walk in July 2025. 'All of a sudden this person barged into my shoulder and then I fell over onto the ground,' Ms Brandon testified during a hearing at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday. 'I fell down onto my left butt cheek, I was quite shocked actually.' Koletti has pleaded not guilty to one count of common assault over the incident, which allegedly occurred in a clifftop park in Vaucluse in Sydney's east. Ms Brandon was walking with her then friend, Ericka Van Aalst, in a reserve not far from the Dover Heights home Koletti shared with Caddick before her disappearance. Ms Van Aalst testified that she did not see the alleged shove before her friend fell into her. Julie Brandon (pictured right with her husband at Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney) alleges she was violently shoved to the grass while walking her dog in Vaucluse Her alleged attacker is Anthony Koletti, the husband of late conwoman Melissa Caddick (pictured with Koletti) Koletti (pictured) has pleaded not guilty to one charge of common assault But Ms Brandon denied suggestions from Koletti's lawyer, Zali Burrows, that she had tripped or fabricated the incident. The two women took photographs of the man they alleged had pushed Ms Brandon as he walked away, before returning about half an hour later. After being invited to Waverley Police Station a week after the alleged assault, Koletti admitted he was the person in the photographs. The court heard about friction between the two former friends after the incident, with Ms Van Aalst saying she felt stressed trying to support Ms Brandon while dealing with serious medical issues of her own. She told the court that Ms Brandon said soon after the alleged assault that she would lose a lot of money and threatened to end their friendship if Ms Van Aalst did not provide a statement to police. However, Ms Brandon denied mentioning money at all, saying she had not lodged a victim compensation claim. She admitted pressuring her sick friend to go to police. 'I was very upset she hadn't given a statement,' she told the court. Ms Brandon has denied suggestions from Koletti's lawyer Zali Burrows (pictured) that she tripped or made up the incident last year Koletti was charged on one day after police released a photo of a man they wished to speak to regarding the alleged assault of a 73-year-old woman Koletti pictured working at the Rose Bay salon on the same day as his arrest 'I don't know what to say to that,' Ms Brandon replied. Earlier on Thursday, Ms Burrows unsuccessfully sought to have body-worn camera footage of Koletti's police interview excluded from evidence, arguing her client had been lured to the station and entrapped. The hair stylist said he believed police wanted to speak to him about his wife's belongings after he was invited to the station by the officer leading the investigation into her disappearance. However, he was instead taken into an interview room by two other officers and questioned about the alleged assault. 'I would have called a lawyer if I had known,' he testified in court on Thursday. 'I had no idea, I was shocked.' He said he was caught off guard and made the admissions while feeling intimidated and under duress. But Judge Scott Nash allowed the footage to be tendered as evidence, finding that Koletti had been cautioned and understood what was happening. The judge is expected to hear closing submissions on Friday. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.