A second man accused of the bashing murder of a grandmother 24 years ago has pleaded not guilty.
Irma Palasics, 73, was allegedly murdered in 1999 and what followed was one of Canberra's longest-running police investigations.
Joseph Vekony, 68, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday, when he was charged with one count of murder.
He entered a plea of not guilty.
When the charge was read to Vekony, members of the Palasics family could be heard crying.
Defence lawyer Georgia Le Couter did not apply for bail.
Vekony, wearing a jacket with striped tracksuit pants, had difficulty hearing questions posed by Magistrate Robert Cook, who was required to repeat himself.
Mr Cook adjourned the case to return to court in January.
Vekony was extradited to the ACT after he was arrested in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The hunt for two men who broke into the Palasics' home almost 24 years ago, brutally bashing Mrs Palasics, and her husband Gregor, has been one of Canberra's longest-running police investigations.
The elderly couple were bound with cable ties and are said to have been viciously beaten as the men ransacked the house for two hours, stealing $30,000 worth of cash and jewellery.
Mrs Palasics did not survive her injuries and died at the scene.
Police announced a breakthrough in the case in September, when co-accused Melbourne man Steve Fabriczy was also charged with murder. He is yet to enter a plea.
Fabriczy, 68, was arrested and extradited to the ACT after DNA, which the court heard was taken a number of years earlier by Victorian police, was allegedly matched by the Australian Federal Police in mid-2020.
Speaking outside the City Police Station on Friday morning, grandson John Mikita told reporters Vekony was "unknown to my family".
"This wasn't the average robbery, my grandparents were beaten, tormented for hours and my grandmother was left to die on the loungeroom floor," Mr Mikita said.
"Twenty-four years is a long time to wait, especially for answers. We never gave up hope, we never stayed silent, we made sure the community never forgot what happened to my grandparents.
"This arrest comes as a great relief and hopefully will allow our family to continue the long healing process and lead to the much needed feeling of closure that we have waited for, for so long."
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said investigations were continuing and included forensics as well as "tremendous work that's been done by the investigations team".
"Not one piece of evidence or process has brought us here, it's about the combination of all this," he stated.
"There are certainly other people who have knowledge of this matter, certainly other people that know what's happened, and certainly after it knew that it happened and haven't come forward."
"We'd love to talk to those people."
