Man arrested in Melbourne murder a rap artist

The man arrested in Aiia Maasarwe's alleged murder, Codey Herrmann, is an aspiring rap artist who went to school just minutes from where the Israeli student's body was found.

Herrmann, 20, has a song posted on one of his Facebook pages under the rap name McCodez which features dark lyrics about suicide and "demons in my mind".

And on one of his Facebook pages under the name Kody Wrex, Herrmann posted on January 8 this year an eerie messages which says, "international girl of mystery, you knows who you are".

As a teenage schoolboy, Herrmann went missing from his school just a few blocks from the tram stop where a passer-by found Ms Maasarwe's body in bushes on Wednesday morning.

Codey Herrmann, who was arrested over Aiia Maasarwe's alleged murder, went to school just minutes from where her body was found. Photo / Facebook

The accused only graduated from Bundoora Secondary College in 2016.

A year earlier as a schoolboy, Herrmann made news after he went missing for two weeks from the college.

One of Herrmann's Facebook pages links to a rap song RBGY by McCodez who sings a song with lyrics talking about "suicidal thoughts".

The song, posted on Herrmann's Facebook page last October includes the lyrics, "suicidal thoughts, yeah I'll walk the line … keeping all the demons in my mind".

Other lyrics include, "no-one ever taught me how to live a normal life" and "you ain't going to mess with me".

Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe was killed in Melbourne and her body found on Wednesday. Photo / Supplied

Just last week, on January 11, Herrman posted 18 times in the one day on his Kody Wrex Facebook page.

Police arrested Herrmann on Friday and took him to the Victoria Police Centre for questioning.

Ms Maasarwe a Palestinian Arab of Israeli citizenship, had been living in Melbourne and studying at La Trobe University for about five months as part of an exchange program through Shanghai University.

On January 8, Codey Herrmann posted this eerie message which said "international girl of mystery you knows who you are". Photo / Facebook

Her distraught father Saeed Maasarwe arrived in Melbourne on Thursday to identify her body. At the site where his daughter's body was found, he tearfully recounted his daughter's short time here.

"She loved this city and the university … very much," Mr Maasarwe said.

"I had a plan to come at the end of January … to be together with her for vacation with her sister, the older sister, to be with her for two weeks or 10 days.

"We want to go to many places here in Australia."