19-year-old Jaymes Todd has admitted murdering 22-year-old comedian Eurydice Dixon on June 13th of this year, after Todd entered pleas of guilty on four charges in a Melbourne court this afternoon.
Todd appeared via video link in the Melbourne Magistrates Court today, pleading guilty on one count each of murder, rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault. One additional charge levelled against Todd was withdrawn by prosecutors. Todd reportedly leant into the microphone in front of him and remarked simply “guilty, your honour” when asked to enter his plea on the charges by the presiding judge.
Police now believe that between the hours of 12:30am and 3:00am on the morning of June 13th, Dixon was raped and murdered by Todd in Carlton’s Princes Park area while Dixon was walking home from performing stand-up comedy at a bar in the CBD. It’s alleged that Todd may have followed Dixon for several kilometres before attacking her. Dixon’s body was discovered on a soccer field in the park by a passerby a short time later.
He presented to police in Broadmeadows the following day, where he was formally arrested and charged with Dixon’s murder.
The murder sparked widespread grief and anger, with candlelit vigils held across the country in memory of Dixon, and the countless other women who have died at the hands of violent men. These included one at the site where Dixon’s body was found in the inner Melbourne suburbs; a vigil that attracted thousands of people.
Jaymes Todd has been remanded in custody and will now appear in the Victorian Supreme Court on November 13th, where a date for a plea hearing will be set.
