{"id":237374,"date":"2025-10-24T11:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T11:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237374\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T11:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T11:02:10","slug":"victims-of-horror-crash-that-killed-young-model-lash-out-at-system-in-tatters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237374\/","title":{"rendered":"Victims of horror crash that killed young model lash out at system ‘in tatters’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Devastated family and friends of a young model killed by a drunk driver are angry and frustrated at a system that allowed him to be freed on bail while they suffered.<\/p>\n

“The social fabric of this state is in tatters in relation to the helping and assisting of victims of crime,” Michael Hodder, the father of the victim, said outside court on Friday.<\/p>\n

“It’s a lack of leadership, sincerity and I would say overall a framework here in protecting community members.”<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Elise Hodder has been remembered as a beautiful and caring person. (Nine)<\/p>\n

Elise Hodder, 24, was hit and dragged under a Holden Commodore driven by unlicensed drunk driver Connor Mathiasson as he left a late-night rave in Melbourne on October 13, 2024.<\/p>\n

She was stuck for hours under the vehicle until she fell unconscious and died.<\/p>\n

The model, who was on the brink of a successful career, had been celebrating her friend Emma Swords’ birthday when the women and another friend were reversed into inside a Kooyong car park.<\/p>\n

Mathiasson, 24, pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing Ms Hodder’s death and negligently causing serious injury to Swords, as he faced their loved ones at a pre-sentence hearing on Friday.<\/p>\n

He had an “incredibly high degree of intoxication” at four times the legal blood alcohol limit, and was found with cocaine and cannabis in his system, prosecutor Neill Hutton SC told Victoria’s County Court.<\/p>\n

Two officers said they saw Mathiasson’s vehicle accelerate “straight into a group of pedestrians” inside the crowded car park.<\/p>\n

\"ConnorConnor Mathiasson, 24, pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing Ms Hodder’s death and negligently causing serious injury to Swords. (Nine)<\/p>\n

Swords told police she remembered getting hit “really hard” by the Commodore.<\/p>\n

Mathiasson’s barrister Rishi Nathwani KC said his client told police: “I shouldn’t have driven, that was f—ing stupid. I don’t care what happens to me, all I care about is what happens to that girl.”<\/p>\n

Officers blocked Mathiasson’s Commodore and spoke to Ms Hodder before she died, as she lay conscious but “fighting for her life” trapped underneath the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Swords said she had been “failed by the system” as she struggled to recover from losing her best friend, suffering two broken ankles and PTSD, while Mathiasson was released on bail a day after the crash.<\/p>\n

“One of the greatest friends I’ve ever had the honour of having was just taken in an instant right beside me,” she told the court.<\/p>\n

“Elise lost her life because of him, I was living in agony because of him, I don’t understand why he gets this sense of normality.<\/p>\n

“I saw my best friend die and I survived in a way that still haunts me \u2026 justice has to be served.”<\/p>\n

\"PaulinePauline Courtney and Michael Hodder with a picture of their daughter. (A Current Affair)<\/p>\n

Earlier, Mr Hodder and his wife Pauline described their heartbreak at losing their youngest child.<\/p>\n

Mrs Hodder said she dropped her daughter at a friend’s house on the evening she was killed.<\/p>\n

“She looked me in the eye and said ‘you’re a special woman mum, I love you’,” Mrs Hodder said.<\/p>\n

“I had no idea this was the last time I would ever see my daughter alive.”<\/p>\n

Hearing her daughter had been stuck under the Commodore “for hours” had made her grief “unbearable”.<\/p>\n

\"AtAt the age of 24, Elise Hodder featured in Vanguard magazine. (A Current Affair)<\/p>\n

“What a violent, cruel ending for my gentle, loving girl,” she said, between tears.<\/p>\n

The devastated parents had to identify Ms Hodder’s body, while Mathiasson had already been freed on bail.<\/p>\n

“To then see her at the coroners court, to hug and kiss her while knowing her offender was free, was unbearably cruel,” Mr Hodder said.<\/p>\n

Nathwani said his client, who cried throughout Friday’s hearing, accepted he would have to serve a “significant prison sentence” and recognised his actions caused a “horrendous tragedy”.<\/p>\n

The barrister said Mathiasson had found solace in alcohol to deal with trauma from his mother’s suicide.<\/p>\n

Mathiasson was remanded in custody to await his sentence on November 10. He faces up to 20 years behind bars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Devastated family and friends of a young model killed by a drunk driver are angry and frustrated at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-237374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}