Eurydice Dixon murder trial Melbourne: Killer jailed for life

The man who raped and murdered aspiring Melbourne comedian Eurydice Dixon has been sentenced to life behind bars.

Jaymes Todd, 20,  followed Ms Dixon, 22, for more than an hour before he attacked her as she walked through Princes Park in Carlton North on her way home from a comedy gig on June 12 last year. 

Her body was found less than a kilometre away from her home.

In sentencing on Monday morning, Justice Stephen Kaye sentenced Todd to life behind bars with a fixed non-parole period of 35 years.

He told Todd he attacked Ms Dixon ‘in a most callous and cowardly manner’ and described his actions as ‘the darkest form of human thinking’.

Melbourne comedian Eurydice Dixon was murdered on her way home from a gig in June 2018

Jaymes Todd’s face was hidden in his shirt as he was led into court for sentencing on Monday

‘You waited until she was in the darkest reaches of the park … the sheer terror … is unimaginable,’ Judge Kaye said.

‘Her last moments on this earth must have been utterly horrifying for her.’

Todd may walk free from jail one day as prosecutors have not asked for a life-sentence, citing his age, lack of prior convictions and early guilty plea.

He has autism and has been diagnosed with sexual sadism disorder since being in custody. 

But Justice Kaye threw out the argument that Todd’s autism was a factor in his offending.

Jaymes Todd (pictured) was sentenced on Monday

Before the murder Todd fantasised about violent non-consensual sex culminating in a woman’s death, Victoria’s Supreme Court was earlier told.

But the young man claimed the rape and murder didn’t go as he planned, psychologist James Ogloff said.

After the murder, Todd, then 19,  bought a pie and coffee, went back to the Carlton North crime scene, and googled rape and pornography as well as stories about his victim.

Todd initially denied killing Ms Dixon but later confessed  to police in the face of overwhelming evidence against him, including CCTV of him following Ms Dixon.

He pleaded guilty to the rape and murder last November.

Justice Kaye had previously indicated he would consider sentencing Todd to life without parole, if he found the man had premeditated the murder.

Ms Dixon’s death sent shockwaves across the country and led to a number of vigils remembering the young woman and those who died at the hands of men.

Justice Stephen Kaye described Ms Dixon’s last moments on Earth as ‘utterly horrifying’

More than 10,000 Melburnians attended an emotional candlelight vigil at the park where Ms Dixon’s life was tragically cut short with many more vigils held across the country.

Horrifying details of Ms Dixon’s  were aired during a Supreme Court of Victoria pre-sentence plea hearing last month.

Todd, who has autism and ADHD, spotted Ms Dixon at Flinders Street Station after he’d spent the afternoon drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis. He then stalked her for five kilometres.

Ms Dixon had performed a gig at the Highlander Bar and was walking home where she lived with her father and brother – her mother had died when she was seven.

As she crossed the soccer pitches, Todd grabbed her from behind by her hair and dress, knocking her to the ground, straddling her with his knees pressed down on her arms.

She fought back, scratching at his face but he held his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming before sexually assaulting her, then pressing on her windpipe until she died.

Jaymes Todd (pictured) is led from Supreme Court of Victoria following his pre-sentence plea hearing last month

Leaving Ms Dixon in the park, Todd rolled through her mobile phone for 10 minutes, using the camera to examine the scratches on his face before falling asleep on a bench at Royal Park station.

At 2.50am on June 13, a passer-by found Ms Dixon’s cold body, called triple zero and attempted CPR.

Todd claims he later walked back through the park, where police directed him away from the crime scene.

At home that day, Todd searched the internet for rape porn and stories about Ms Dixon, before handing himself into police when friends told him his ‘face was all over the news’.

He 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.

Ms Dixon’s boyfriend, Tony Magnusen said he was still burdened with nightmares from the horrifying incident.

‘When I did fall asleep I would often wake up to the sound of her screams,’ Mr Magnuson told the court last month.

‘There is no doubt in my mind I will never look at the human race the same way again.’

The aspiring comedian’s horrific death shocked Australia with vigils held across the country

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk