Two hours after Daniel Billings murdered his ex-girlfriend Molly Ticehurst in a frenzied stabbing he spoke to a woman he had met on Tinder. The woman, who Billings met on the dating app in early 2022, told police she was shocked as he described the murder during their brief conversation. He made the phone call from a mutual friend’s property, where Billings had fled in his bloodied clothes, according to a statement of facts.
The friend soon alerted police, the court heard. Billings, a former mine worker, has pleaded guilty to stabbing Molly Ticehurst 15 times after breaking into her bedroom at her Forbes home just before midnight on 21 April. The 31-year-old is facing a two-day sentencing hearing in Orange that was expected to conclude on Friday.
Billings had been released on bail by a local court registrar a fortnight before the murder. He was charged with a series of sexual assault and domestic violence offences against 28-year-old Molly. As soon as he learned of her allegations of repeated rapes, Billings adamantly denied the crimes and developed a twisted obsession with clearing his name, the court has been told.
Thursday’s hearing heard 90 minutes of footage that Billings recorded before and after the murder, in which he repeatedly claimed to have been wrongly accused of rape. Even as Molly Ticehurst lay dead in her pyjamas, he continued to claim he was a victim of injustice. Billings was then seen raising a bloodied hand to his face as he drove away also appearing to retch.
Forensic psychiatrist Olav Nielssen, engaged by the defence team, told the court many of the recordings could be interpreted as “goodbye videos” and that Billings was suffering significant depression. But Prof David Greenberg, the crown’s expert, told the court that Billings’ threats of suicide could also be interpreted in the context of his months of domestic abuse against Molly. He occasionally shook his head.
The court heard victim impact statements from Molly’s family on Thursday. Justice Natalie Adams has indicated she would sentence Billings later in September.
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