Three men charged with killing pro wrestler

WINNIPEG - Three men have been charged in the beating death of a former pro wrestler known as the "Croatian Giant," who was killed inside his Manitoba home last year.

Donald Richard, 31, Daniel Richard, 22, and Timothy Richard, 20, were arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder after an extensive police investigation. All three accused are related, according to police.

More arrests are possible, police said.

Ivan Radocaj, seen here in an undated handout photo, was found slain on Sept. 14, 2007

He died just weeks after he accused his ex-wife of threatening to have him killed following the break-up of their three-week marriage.

But Melody Sanford denied those claims, telling the Winnipeg Free Press she had nothing to hide and played no part in the man's death.

Radocaj's father, Josip, filed an affidavit just days after the killing claiming Sanford "sucked" his son into a fraudulent wedding so she could try to get his money, including a $49,000 Manitoba Public Insurance settlement stemming from a car crash that left him with a broken neck.

He wanted to have his son's assets frozen so that Sanford couldn't attempt to sell them off. He claimed his son was afraid of her "connections with gangs and traffickers."

A family court judge refused the application because Sanford hadn't been given proper notice of the emergency hearing.

Sanford said she reconciled with Radocaj in the days preceding his death - although that came as news to the victim's family.

Sanford and Radocaj moved in together last May and married June 23 - but their union ended on July 13 when she abruptly left the $110,000 home they'd just bought together.

Sanford filed a petition for a protection order against Radocaj, which was granted by the courts and banned the man from coming with 500 metres of her.

She claimed Radocaj was jealous of the time she was spending with friends, family and even her pets.

"He was angry that I would cuddle with my cats," she wrote in her affidavit.

Sanford also claimed Radocaj once threatened her with a loaded shotgun in an incident that was reported to police.

Radocaj countered with his own petition, both for a protection order against Sanford and for a divorce. He denied threatening her with a gun.

Radocaj enjoyed a brief stint as a pro wrestler back in the early 1980s, under various ring names including the Croatian Giant, Ivan the Giant and Big John Radocaj.