Face of Nation : The man who raped and murdered Melbourne aspiring comedian Eurydice Dixon will return to court on Friday before he is sentenced.
Jaymes Todd, of Broadmeadows, was 19 when he spotted Ms Dixon at Flinders Street Station as she walked home after performing a comedy gig. He stalked the 22-year-old for five kilometres, before attacking her as she walked through Carlton North’s Princes Park on June 12 last year. A passer-by walking home from work discovered her body at 2.50am the following morning.
Now 20, Todd appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday for a two-day pre-sentence plea hearing, where details of the June 2018 murder were aired for the first time.
Records show Todd had a history of internet searches for rape and snuff porn, strangulation porn and “emo girls” prior to the murder and had fantasised about violent non-consensual sex culminating in a woman’s death. He has since been diagnosed with sexual sadism disorder.
After the murder, Todd searched the internet for rape porn and stories about Ms Dixon, before handing himself in to police when friends told him his “face was all over the news”. Defence barrister Tim Marsh said Todd was sexually attracted to Ms Dixon, fitting a certain look he found appealing, but argued the Broadmeadows man didn’t plan to murder her until the attack.
Forensic psychiatrist David Thomas said Todd had reduced ability to consider the consequences of following through with his “overwhelming urge” of non-consensual sex finishing with death. But he couldn’t say whether Todd intended to complete the fantasy or stop at the sexual assault. Todd initially denied being Ms Dixon’s killer but later admitted “I did it”, officially pleading guilty to murder, rape, attempted rape and sexual assault in November.
