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The family of Molly Ticehurst have faced her killer Daniel Billings, condemning him to the judgment of the universe and mourning the bright, loved young mum who he senselessly murdered.
Billings, 31, broke into Ticehurst’s home in Forbes just before midnight on 22 April 2024 and stabbed the young mother more than a dozen times with a hunting knife.
Weeks before her death, Ticehurst had told police Billings had sexually assaulted her and killed her puppy with a hammer. He had threatened to kill her.
“I will come in the middle of the night … I will get to you if that is the last thing I do. The police won’t stop me. I will get to you quicker than they will,” Billings warned.
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He was bailed by a court anyway.
On Thursday, the NSW Supreme Court played chilling recordings Billings had made in which he talks about “becoming a slave to hatred” while on his way to kill Ticehurst.
Billings rambled extensively in messages for his friends and family, where he described becoming a monster and the “suicide mission” he was about to embark on.
He wondered what the newspapers would say about him, and at times evangelised in Biblical verses about thistles and cutting off the hands that sin and returning to dust, as magpies warbled in the background.
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Ticehurst’s murder provoked widespread anger about the intractable scourge of domestic violence, sparking extensive bail reforms called Molly’s Law.
‘You will always be my girl … I will grieve you for the rest of my life.’Molly Ticehurst’s father Tony
But on Thursday the court heard the human wreckage Billings’ crime left behind.
Ticehurst’s son now carries her ashes everywhere he can, even to the shops.
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“I really miss my mum because I miss going on holidays and mowing the lawn with her and watching Ice Age in her room,” her son wrote, in a tearful statement read by the boy’s father.
“I love my mum very much.”
Ticehurst’s father, Tony, called on the universe to deliver justice.
“(Her son) was her world, as Molly was mine,” he said.
“She should have been safe. No one should ever have to fear for their life in their own home.
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“I believe that after you have served your punishment here on earth, the justice system of the universe will judge you.”
Tony’s glasses fogged up as he recited a passage of Johnny Cash’s When The Man Comes Around, a song Billings listened to as he drove to Forbes to kill his daughter.
“I hope that every night, Molly’s screams keep you awake. And the hairs on your arms stands up in terror,” Tony said.
“And I look and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death.”
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“I doubt that there will be a golden ladder reaching down for you, nor will be there be virgins trimming their wicks to guide you home.”
He ended his statement addressing his daughter.
“You will always be my girl … I will grieve you for the rest of my life.”
The sentencing hearing will last two days.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636. You can reach Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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Perry Duffin is a crime reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement