{"id":588783,"date":"2026-09-03T10:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/588783\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T10:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:08:14","slug":"molly-ticehursts-killer-sang-and-filmed-midnight-drive-to-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/588783\/","title":{"rendered":"Molly Ticehurst’s killer sang and filmed midnight drive to murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Daniel Billings sped along dark country roads to carry out a cold-blooded plan to murder his ex-girlfriend Molly Ticehurst, he excitedly sang along to a country song.<\/p>\n

Warning: This article contains details which may be distressing to some readers<\/p>\n

“When the man comes around, the hairs on the back of your arms will stand up at the terror,” Billings sang on a video filmed on his phone, while listening to a Johnny Cash track.<\/p>\n

Moments later he broke into Ticehurst’s bedroom at her home in Forbes, in central western NSW, and used a large hunting knife to stab her 15 times.<\/p>\n

The ferocious attack lasted no more than a minute.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old has pleaded guilty to Molly Ticehurst’s murder on April 21, 2024, a crime that became the centre of a national movement in Australia against gendered violence.<\/p>\n

The video of Billings in the lead-up to the murder was one of several chilling recordings played at his sentencing hearing in the NSW Supreme Court in Orange on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Her father Tony Ticehurst told court he pictures Billings’ late night drive from Parkes to Forbes and the music that accompanied the journey to kill his beloved daughter.<\/p>\n

“I hope that every night Molly’s screams keep you awake and the hairs on your arm stand up at the terror,” Tony Ticehurst said, referencing the lyrics.<\/p>\n

“Knowing that Billings planned his trip to Forbes to take her life is something I will never understand.”<\/p>\n

‘I can’t believe I just did that’<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Daniel Billings. (Source: Facebook) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Billings had been released on bail by a local court registrar a fortnight before the attack, charged with a string of sexual assault and domestic violence offences against Molly Ticehurst.<\/p>\n

As soon as he learned of her allegations of repeated rapes, Billings denied the crimes and became obsessed with clearing his name.<\/p>\n

He continued to claim he was wrongfully accused of rape even as she lay dead in her pyjamas.<\/p>\n

“I can’t believe I just did that,” he said in another video recorded soon after the stabbing.<\/p>\n

Billings was seen raising a bloodied hand to his face as he drove away from her house, appearing to retch.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know why she accused me of rape, I don’t know what her game plan was.”<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n

Where to get help for sexual violence. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Gasps were heard among the 50 of Molly Ticehurst’s friends and family as the final video was played.<\/p>\n

Billings, a former trainee mining driller, had repeatedly threatened to break into her home and kill her in the months before the murder.<\/p>\n

Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, went to police, leading to an apprehended domestic violence order and Billings’ arrest on sexual assault and intimidation charges.<\/p>\n

Police opposed bail, but a local court registrar granted Billings conditional freedom on April 6 after one night in custody.<\/p>\n

In the videos played to court, Billings complained about conditions in the police cells, including a cold shower and a McDonald’s breakfast.<\/p>\n

Other footage showed Billings crying, smoking, spitting, swearing and ranting as he roamed around his house on the day of the murder, foreshadowing his plan to harm Ticehurst.<\/p>\n

‘When she died, part of me died with her’<\/p>\n

\"Childcare<\/p>\n

Childcare worker Molly Ticehurst. (Source: Facebook) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The Ticehurst family were in court watching the recordings, after delivering devastating victim impact statements.<\/p>\n

Tony Ticehurst described his daughter as big-hearted and deeply loved, his best friend and confidant.<\/p>\n

“When she died, part of me died with her,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion.<\/p>\n

Molly Ticehurst’s mother Kate held her hand tightly over her face as her victim impact statement was read aloud by a relative.<\/p>\n

“Molly was my only child and my best friend,” her statement said.<\/p>\n

“I’m heartbroken that my girl is no longer with me.”<\/p>\n

Billings, wearing a black suit and sneakers, listened to proceedings from an elevated wooden dock.<\/p>\n

He bowed his head during the victim impact statements and leaned down to stare at his hands while his videos were played.<\/p>\n

Billings appeared most interested in evidence from two forensic psychiatrists about his mental state at the time of the murder.<\/p>\n

Olav Nielssen, for the defence, said Billings had serious depression and his recordings could be interpreted as “goodbye” videos before a planned murder-suicide.<\/p>\n

But Crown psychiatrist David Greenberg opined Billings’ depression was low level.<\/p>\n

Molly Ticehurst’s murder led to legal changes in NSW, including tighter bail laws for people accused of domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Her father said that had brought some comfort.<\/p>\n

“Molly’s law has now been introduced; I will be forever proud to be her dad.”<\/p>\n

The sexual assault charges were withdrawn after Billings pleaded guilty to murder in the local court in November 2025.<\/p>\n

Justice Natalie Adams has indicated she will hand down her sentence later in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Daniel Billings sped along dark country roads to carry out a cold-blooded plan to murder his ex-girlfriend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-588783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}