Daniel Billings admitted murdering his former partner Molly Ticehurst in a phone call to a woman he had met on Tinder, just two hours after stabbing her 15 times at her home in Forbes, New South Wales.
The 31-year-old former mine worker made the call at 2.02am on April 22, 2024, telling the woman: “I’m sorry I murdered her.” He had fled to a mutual friend’s property wearing bloodstained clothes, a sentencing hearing in the NSW Supreme Court at Orange was told. ([theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/04/molly-ticehurst-killer-called-tinder-date-after-stabbing-sorry-i-murdered-her-ntwnfb?utm_source=openai))
According to a statement given to police by the woman, Billings said he had intended to go to Ms Ticehurst’s home to talk to her, but claimed she began screaming before he attacked her.
Billings had broken into the 28-year-old childcare worker’s bedroom shortly before midnight on April 21, 2024. He pleaded guilty to murder in November 2025 after admitting that he stabbed Ms Ticehurst repeatedly during an attack which lasted less than a minute. ([abc.net.au](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-03/daniel-billings-sentence-hearing-molly-ticehurst-murder/107105840?utm_source=openai))
The friend whose property Billings reached after the killing alerted police, the court heard. Billings had previously been charged with sexual assault and domestic violence offences involving Ms Ticehurst and had been released on bail shortly before her death. ([theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/04/molly-ticehurst-killer-called-tinder-date-after-stabbing-sorry-i-murdered-her-ntwnfb?utm_source=openai))
The confession was heard during a two-day sentencing hearing in Orange, where prosecutors and defence psychiatrists also gave differing assessments of Billings’s mental state at the time of the murder.
Justice Natalie Adams is expected to sentence Billings next week. He also admitted charges relating to breaching an apprehended violence order, damaging property and killing Ms Ticehurst’s pet dachshund. ([abc.net.au](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-03/daniel-billings-sentence-hearing-molly-ticehurst-murder/107105840?utm_source=openai))
