Paravinja's court appointed attorney Branko Baica appealed the investigation. After examining the case file, Baica said the evidence against his client was circumstantial.

The court rejected the appeal and the investigation will continue.

Investigating judge Igor Ninic today heard two witnesses, including Frane Bilic, the neighbour of missing Antonia Bilic. Frane Bilic was the last person to see Antonie Bilic at the moment she was entering Paravinja's truck. The witnesses did not wish to speak to the press after the hearing.

Judge Ninic said he asked the courts in Rijeka, Split and Pula to question witnesses who might be important for the investigation. He said the court would "take a week-long recess" and that the investigation would continue on 9 and 10 August when Paravinja's work colleagues and other witnesses would questioned.

After his arrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paravinja admitted to the police in Banja Luka that he had strangled Antonia Bilic and dumped her body into the River Krka. Later on, he retracted his statement before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, claiming that it was extorted by beatings.

Antonia Bilic, an underage girl from the village of Kricke near Drnis, was last seen on the morning of June 7 entering a truck driven by the convicted rapist Paravinja, who stopped to give her a lift. Police later found traces of her blood in the truck. A search for her body continues.