‘Monster’ who killed Molly Ticehurst to learn fate

Molly Ticehurst’s killer will finally have to face his family face to face when he is sentenced to prison for her murder after breaking into her bedroom and stabbing her more than two years later.

Daniel Billings, 30, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday and confirmed he had pleaded guilty to the 2024 murder of Ms Ticehurst.

“Guilty, Your Honor,” Billings told Judge Dina Yehia via audio-visual link from the supermax wing of Goulburn prison.

The judge ordered a two-day sentencing hearing to be held in Orange, central west NSW, on June 1, 2026.

You will be asked to appear in person.

Ms Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead at her home in Forbes in the state’s mid-west in the early hours of April 22, 2024.

Billings stabbed her 15 times in a violent attack that lasted less than a minute, after repeatedly threatening to kill her in the weeks and months before.

Police had obtained a temporary arrest warrant against Billings.

He had been charged with several counts of rape of Miss Ticehurst and a number of domestic violence offenses on April 5, 2024, but was released on bail by the local court clerk the next day.

Billings, who had occasionally been violent and possessive during their relationships, was enraged after being accused and enraged that he had been labeled a rapist based on the agreed facts.

In a folder of scribbled notes that police found after the murder, Billings wrote a declaration in green text: “Innocent!!!”

Another note read: “Turn me into a monster, treat me like an animal, then okay, I’ll play the fucking part.”

When police arrested an enraged Billings at a friend’s home hours after the murder, Billings confessed to killing Miss Ticehurst.

“I had just been arrested because of word of mouth and I think that’s when I snapped,” he told a police officer.

“I will be treated like a monster… Then I will play the monster in the story.”

These sexual assault charges were withdrawn and dismissed when Billings pleaded guilty to murder in Forbes Local Court on 14 November.

The local court case took 18 months to progress, with lengthy legal negotiations, a mental health assessment and repeated adjournments.

Despite these delays, Billings may still be eligible for a sentence reduction of up to 25 per cent, as pleading guilty in local court is considered an early plea under NSW law.

However, if Billings’ fault is found to be excessive, the sentencing judge may choose not to impose a reduction.

When the case was adjourned for the last time before the plea, Ms Ticehurst’s father Tony Ticehurst said the legal delays were causing deep distress to their family.

“It seems to me that the system failed Molly in life and is continuing the same course in death,” Mr. Ticehurst told reporters at Forbes.

“Instead of closure, all we get is anxiety, sadness, and heartache.”

Billings also pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching a remand violence order, as well as charges of destruction of property and cruelty to animals.

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National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028