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'He stalked her for 54 minutes.' A court room has watched the final hour of Eurydice Dixon’s life.

 

-With AAP.

For 54 minutes on June 12, 2018, Jaymes Todd carefully followed Eurydice Dixon through the night, sticking to the shadows of the dark streets, timing his intermittent breaks so not to lose sight of his victim.

Ensuring she never saw him coming, he would appear to walk ahead of her, then stop and wait for her to pass him. At regular intervals, he would slow down to roll cigarettes, or take a moment to sit down on discarded milk crates, hanging several metres back so not to raise suspicion.

This was the last 54 minutes of Dixon’s life.

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Eurydice Dixon. Image: Facebook.
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After stepping onto the third soccer pitch of Princes Park of Melbourne's inner-north, 20-year-old Jaymes Todd attacked the 22-year-old woman from behind. A passerby walking home from work discovered her body at 2.50am the following morning.

Todd pleaded guilty to Dixon's rape and murder in November last year, but today, a court watched footage of him stalking her through the night as she walked home from a comedy gig she had attended with her boyfriend and friends.

It was heard he used “some sophistication” in remaining unseen by Dixon between 11.07pm and 12.04am when he attacked her.

Dixon - a  budding comedian herself and beloved member of the Melbourne inner-city community - left Flinders St railway station at 11.07pm. This is when she first crossed paths with Todd.

Todd handed himself in to police the day Dixon's body was found, initially denying involvement, but later pleading guilty to murder, rape, attempted rape and sexual assault when he faced court in November.

He was first approached for questioning after police circulated CCTV images of Todd in the vicinity of the attack. Recognising Todd's figure in the images broadcast on the news, friends contacted Todd to ask if he was involved, which he denied.

Jaymes Todd being escorted by police into the Melbourne Magistrate Court. Image: AAP.
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When his long-term girlfriend questioned his involvement, he assured her he had nothing to do with it.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” he told her, the court heard.

In an interview with police he said scratches on his face “had possibly been caused by his cat”. These were later revealed to be scratches from Dixon defending herself.

He also told police at first that he followed Dixon because she looked intoxicated, despite an autopsy revealing she had not consumed any alcohol.

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“[I thought], look at this drunk idiot. Might as well see if she does anything funny,” Todd said.

When he eventually confessed, he explained to police why he chose to attack Dixon.

"She looked like she was stumbling around … she looked like she was not in a position to defend herself," he said.

Today in court, Todd, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, closed his eyes as details of the rape and murder were read aloud, news.com.au reports.

When Dixon’s sister Polly read out a victim impact statement, describing how her life was “shattered” by his actions, and she now lives “in indescribable agony”, he wiped away tears.

Eurydice Dixon was a promising comedian. Image: Facebook
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“My world has been turned inside out,” she said. “I’m seething with anger.”

The court heard Todd was attracted to Dixon and followed her with the purpose of sexually assaulting her.

“Ms Dixon’s appearance… was of a sexual interest to him,” his lawyer conceded.

“On any measure, this is an extremely seriou … brazen and brutal attack,” he said.

“There was no justification for his conduct.”

But Todd’s lawyer argued that murder was an afterthought, and that Todd did not entertain the idea of killing Dixon until she walked into the empty park.

Supreme Court Judge Stephen Kaye said he was however, convinced Todd's intent to kill the young women stemmed from his apparent fascination with “snuff films”.

“His intent to kill was driven by thoughts, fantasies and pornography,” he said.

Judge Kaye said he would have to give “serious consideration to a life sentence” should it be proven Dixon’s murder was indeed premeditated.

The Supreme Court plea hearing is expected to run throughout Thursday and Friday before sentencing later this year.