The Australian comedian Eurydice Dixon was killed last year. Photo / Facebook
The Australian comedian Eurydice Dixon was killed last year. Photo / Facebook
Jaymes Todd sat calmly in the dock at Court 3 of the Victorian Supreme Court sipping water as details of the rape and murder of Eurydice Dixon were read out.
He stood briefly before sitting again as Justice Stephen Kaye told him he will spend at least 35 years in jail for the June 2018 attack at Princes Park in Carlton North.
But the life sentence comes with a caveat that will haunt the 20-year-old sexual sadist in the years leading up to his 55th birthday — a small but important detail that shouldn't be brushed over, news.com.au reports.
Jaymes Todd is by no means guaranteed to ever walk free.
"In respect of the non-parole period that I will set for you, it is important for you to understand, and indeed for all of those who are here to listen to or who later read these reasons for sentence to understand, that you will not 'walk free from prison' on completion of that period," Justice Kaye told him.
A small but very important point about Jaymes Todd's sentence today. There's a non-parole period attached to his life sentence but, as the judge points out, that doesn't mean he'll ever be free. @newscomauHQpic.twitter.com/qo4dBh0eL5
"At the end of your non-parole period, you will be eligible to apply for, and, if appropriate, be granted, release on parole. In any case, and in particular in cases such as this, release on parole is by no means certain.
"The Parole Board will give careful consideration, among other matters, to the facts and circumstances of your offending, to the materials that have been put before me on this plea, and to my reasons for sentence.
"I would also expect that the Parole Board would take into account your progress during your term of imprisonment, and the steps that you have taken to address your sexual disorder, in determining whether it is safe to release you into the community under supervision."
Justice Kaye's decision to hand down a life sentence went against the wishes of Todd's lawyers and even prosecutors, who asked instead that the autistic killer be spared a life sentence but granted "a lengthy" period of incarceration.
WHY EURYDICE'S KILLER DESERVED LIFE SENTENCE
In handing down his sentence, Justice Kaye said there were a number of mitigating circumstances that needed to be considered.
Among them were Todd's autism which he noted gave rise to his sexual sadism disorder but did not prevent him from stopping once he started following his victim 54 minutes before attacking her.
"You had ample opportunity to come to your senses," Justice Kaye said.
Todd's age and prospects for rehabilitation were taken into account, as were his lack of prior convictions and a "dysfunctional" and "squalid" home life at a housing commission flat in Broadmeadows, in Melbourne's northwest.
Eurydice's killer has been jailed for life. Photo / Facebook
Justice Kaye also considered the "hardship" Todd will endure during his term of imprisonment.
He told the court that striking a balance between those factors and the "evil" crime Todd committed was difficult, but ultimately the need to protect the community won out.
"In the end, and after giving this matter truly anxious consideration, and giving full weight to the mitigating circumstances to which I have referred, I have come to the conclusion that the only appropriate sentence, for the offence of murder in this case, is one of life imprisonment, with a fixed minimum period of years before you are eligible to be considered for release on parole," he said.
THE MURDER WAS PRE-MEDITATED
Did Jaymes Todd plan to murder Eurydice Dixon when the pair crossed paths outside Flinders Street Station shortly after 10pm on June 12?
Did he decide to go ahead with it after following her into the dimly lit Princes Park?
Those were questions central to Justice Kaye's decision to hand down a life sentence.
He concluded that Todd was fulfilling a disturbing rape and murder fantasy when he started following Ms Dixon having become obsessed with the idea of strangling and killing a woman.
That fantasy was part of a role-playing scenario he involved his girlfriend in, the court heard. She would let him choke her during sex but he would always stop when she made a gesture akin to a safe word.
"You knew that you were going to act out your rape fantasy," Justice Kaye told Todd.
"At some stage … you lived out the whole of the fantasy, culminating in her death. You knew the end game."
He said he reached that conclusion in part because of Todd's actions after the murder. Having returned home the following morning, Todd typed the words "strangulation and rape porn" and "strangled and brutally raped" into Google.
