On the morning of March 24th, 2015 a totally unsuspecting gardener showed up to work at the recently completed beach mansion of Phillip and Donna Vasyli in Old Fort Bay in the Bahamas. Phillip and Donna had been staying in the guest house while a few final things were finished off in the main house. The gardner unlocked their back door and immediately saw his employer, 59-year-old Phil Vasyli laying in a pool of blood on the floor of the kitchen. Phil was dead and had been for hours.
Old Fort Bay had never had a murder before. This was a VERY affluent area with 24 hour security and frequent patrolling by police. Everyone that was in the house (maids and gardeners and such) were taken to the police station and questioned. Donna Vasyli was also questioned and subsequently arrested. 5 days later, she was charged with her husband’s murder.
Phillip John Vasyli
Phillip John Vasyli was born in Twins Head, Australia and grew up in a western suburb of Sydney called Liverpool. Phil grew up poor and on the “wrong side of the tracks.” His dad was described by a friend of Phil’s, Laurence Sidari, as a “tough bastard.” He said you DID NOT act up when Phil’s dad was around.
At a young age, Phil got into martial arts. He worked his way up to a black belt and was the New South Wales Karate Champ three times. He was a big, strong guy and used this to his advantage when he worked as a bouncer for a while. But Phil had bigger ambitions than being a bouncer. He graduated as a podiatrist and went into business with his childhood friend, Laurence.
That’s when he met 20-year-old Donna who was working as a dental assistant. They ended up getting married and moved into an apartment, but they had a rough first year of marriage. They fought a lot and ended up splitting up for a while. During the split, Laurence said that Phil was obviously depressed and had trouble working. Phil was in love with Donna, but their marriage was in trouble.
Also, during this split, Phil found religion, and that helped him come back to himself.
He and Donna got back together and end up having 2 kids; daughter, Lauren and son, Aaron. Phil was described by everyone as an entrepreneur and just an awesome person to be around. Very extroverted and loved to party. Phil’s extroverted personality and entrepreneurial spirit helped him in building his empire. Phil didn’t just open his practice and sit back and wait for patients to come in. He went out and found them.
Then he used his surfboard making skills he’d learned as a teenager and made orthotics that could be sold over the counter. This is when his life and bank account exploded. His business VIONIC took off and he made millions on millions of dollars.
In 1993, Phil moved his family and his business overseas, but in Australia, he was still the “King of Feet.” By his 40s, Phil and Donna had homes everywhere. They had amazing cars and private jets. By his 50s, Phil and Donna were building their dream home in Old Fort Bay in the Bahamas. The home was called Tumby Yumby (a nod to their Australian roots). According to his driver and friend, Wauriman Borges, Phil’s philosophy was to do 5 minutes of work and then the other 23 hours and 55 minutes of the day were for play.
Phil went on trips and bought anything that his heart desired. He even supported an up and coming musician named Padrino. Phil had a Lamborghini that he loved so much he decided to get a fancier one. Wauriman said that Phil’s favorite band was INXS, and that he LOVED McDonald’s. Apparently he always wanted 2 quarter pounders, 2 fries and a medium Diet Coke. He was the life of the party no matter where he was, but he wasn’t without stress and sadness.
The Not So Perfect Couple
Phil and Donna’s marriage was struggling again and he wasn’t happy with her anymore. Many friends saw their very public, very heated arguments. Donna liked to drag all their dirty laundry into the open and shove it in people’s faces. Once, she called a business partner of Phil’s and left a message saying that Phil was an alcoholic and drug addict who had been to rehab 3 times and was raped when he was 16. Padrino said that he was a part of a particular fight where Donna yelled that she would take Phil for everything.
Phil was not innocent in all of this by any means. He was very flirtatious and charming which, of course, set Donna off. Ceri Howells was a very good friend of Donna and Phil’s (Phil called him “son”) who saw some of their intense arguments first hand. During one argument, Ceri saw Donna come after Phil with a knife. Phil had to grab and twist her arm until she dropped it.
Phil was worth over $600 million dollars, but Wauriman said that Phil had stated that he would give Donna all of it, and he would start from nothing again just to make this stop.
On a happier note: Lauren, their daughter, was getting married! The entire celebration was going to be insane and the family was planning for the two weddings (one in Sydney and one in Spain). During the planning process, the family met at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco for a brainstorming session.
The family was greeted by the maitre d’ and hostess, Sunnie Heng. Sunnie was 29-years-old at that time the Vasyli family came in their private jet. Sunnie noted that Phil was “larger than life” and while Phil was there for the week planning for the wedding, they met. He asked for her email so he could send her some of the shoes his company made. Donna was not the nicest to the staff at the hotel and was even known to be scary.
In November of 2012, Lauren had her two weddings. During this time, Phil continued to email back and forth with Sunnie. He was being flirty. After the wedding extravaganza, Phil returned to the states, and he and Sunnie became intimate. Sunnie mentioned that she was very self conscious after a breast implant surgery caused an infection and removal that left her with some scarring and things. She said that Phil told her he didn’t care. Phil paid for Sunnie to have all of that fixed. Sunnie and Phil were in love and it was apparent to the people who knew about their relationship (like Wauriman and Sunnie’s mom) that they were both happy.
Wauriman mentioned in the Murder, Lies, and Alibis documentary that Phil could have any woman he wanted. He basically said that while Sunnie was pretty, she wasn’t like…a gorgeous, tall supermodel, but Phil wanted her over all the other women so there has to be something special about her.
Not long after their affair began (about 6 months), Donna found out about them.
Donna started a kind of smear campaign against Sunnie. She called the manager of the Four Seasons and told him that Sunnie was a hooker and was using her position at the hotel to solicit married men. Sunnie got fired.
Then the voicemails began.
Donna’s second phase of her plan against Sunnie was to call her INCESSANTLY and leave psychotic and vulgar, but also weirdly casual voicemails.
“Oh hi, Sunnie. It’s Donna. I was just letting you know, don’t go anywhere near Phil because, you know we don’t want you getting caught up in all the drama and the rest of it, but anyways just give me a call back that would be great. I’d love to talk to you.”
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“Oh hey, Sunnie. It’s Donna Vasyli. Remember? Just wanted to know if you’re fucking my husband….You’re dead. Fucking Chinese Fucking Cunt.”
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“Hi, Sunnie. It’s Donna Vasyli, Phillip’s wife. I can’t believe you can’t call me back. Ummm…anyway…just keep your big bow legs closed and stop trying to milk my husband for money because you’re a slut, house wrecker, family wrecker, only into my husband for his money because he son didn’t want to have anything to do with you. Leave husbands alone. Do you get it? Do you get it? You’re nothing but a slant-eyed bitch. So fuck off and go find some other gullible cock. Ok? Ya got that?”
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“Hi, Sunnie. You haven’t got back to me and I’ve called you for the last 6 weeks. Oh my God Father. What’s up with you? I just don’t understand why you won’t call me back. Have I done something to offend you?”
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“My husband hates Asians.”
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“Put your legs together, close your bank account, and get a job.”
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It became Wauriman’s job to protect Sunnie from Donna. Phil asked Sunnie not to answer the phone when Donna called, but to keep the messages. Sunnie wanted to keep them for her own protection. Sometimes when Donna would call, she would pretend to be other people. Not convincingly. Phil bought Sunnie all kinds of nice things including some Cartier jewelry. She still wears them, but during her stalking, Donna accused Sunnie of stealing all of it.
Donna hired a private investigator to follow Sunnie around. The PI took surveillance photos of Sunnie doing everything and followed her everywhere she went. In 2013, Phil bought a house for himself and Sunnie. He met her mom and almost instantly brought her on his team. He told Sunnie that he was divorcing Donna.
What Phil didn’t know was that Donna was hacking into his emails. Once, she found an email from Sunnie to Phil that was very heartfelt and loving, so she used it as her script for her next voicemail. She read it word for word to Sunnie’s voicemail. Sunnie said she knew she was in the wrong and said she felt that she was wrong, but at the same time, she loved Phil and she knew he loved her.
The Police Get Involved!
Then on November 2nd, 2013, in Boca Raton, Florida, Donna and Phil got in a fight. Donna ended up throwing a glass of water in Phil’s face and Phil lost it a little. During their relationship, Donna frequently screamed in Phil’s face and he tried not to hurt her when she did it. Because their fights were often public, he was seen grabbing her to hold her against a wall or holding her wrists so she couldn’t hit him or be physical.
Once, before this night and before his murder, Donna stabbed Phil (with a butter knife) in the thigh during a fight. He told people about it and some even saw the scar it left. Friends told Phil he should have pressed charges, but he responded that that’s not who he is.
However, on this night in November of 2013, the police were called and Phil was arrested for domestic battery and Donna pressed charges. This was very bad for Phil’s business, and he desperately needed Donna to drop the charges against him. Donna had him by the balls.
She had demands:
- Sunny had to move out of that house and Phil couldn’t see her anymore.
- Phil had to go to rehab.
So in January of 2014, Sunnie drove Phil to Passages in Malibu, California. Passages is a VERY FANCY rehab that costs $200,000 for a 2 month stay. When Sunnie left Phil at Passages, it was supposed to be the end of their relationship forever.
For part two, click here!
Sources for this episode
Mistress of murdered millionaire shares racist and deranged voicemails | dailymail.co.uk
Murders, Lies and Alibis: Mistress shares messages from dead lover’s wife | news.com.au
Last chance appeal for Donna Vasyli over murder of orthotics tycoon husband Phil | 7news.com.au
Jurors in Vasyli case get closer look at crime scene | thenassaugguardian.com
Millionaire stabbed to death in Bahamas home but was all as it seemed? | mirror.co.uk
