Bail lapse weeks before killing spurred NSW domestic violence reforms
The New South Wales Supreme Court has sentenced Daniel Billings to 28 years in prison for the stabbing murder of Molly Ticehurst, his former partner, at her home in the central-western NSW town of Forbes. Justice Natalie Adams imposed a 20-year non-parole period at the court’s Orange registry on Friday morning. Billings, 31, stood “calm and expressionless” as the sentence was handed down.
Ticehurst was found dead in her pyjamas in the early hours of 22 April 2024. According to the judgment, Billings broke into her bedroom and used a hunting knife to stab her 15 times in “a ferocious attack that lasted less than a minute.” Adams found the offending was in the high range of seriousness because, as she put it, “he murdered her in the exact way he had long threatened to do.”
“It must have been absolutely terrifying for Ms Ticehurst to die knowing her worst fears were realised,” Adams said.
Police documents cited in the judgment show Billings had repeatedly threatened to “smash into” Ticehurst’s bedroom and kill her in the months after she ended their on-and-off relationship in December 2023. Ticehurst reported the abuse to police, who charged Billings with multiple counts of sexual assault and a series of domestic-violence stalking and intimidation charges. He was also charged with killing Ticehurst’s dachshund puppy with a hammer after an earlier break-up.
Police obtained a provisional apprehended violence order barring Billings from entering Forbes. He spent one night in police custody but was freed on bail by a local court registrar a fortnight before the murder. The Guardian reported that Billings was released because no judge was on duty that weekend.
After his release, Billings became “enraged and obsessed with a belief he had been wrongfully accused of rape,” according to the judgment. He viewed himself as a victim of injustice, also angered by his claim that police threw his Queensland State of Origin boxing team singlet in the dirt. In a series of videos recorded on his phone in the hours before the killing, he detailed his plans to harm Ticehurst in revenge.
“Molly Jean Ticehurst, well, you’ve done it, you’ve succeeded in whatever you wanted out of all of this, whether I get to you tonight or not,” Billings said in one recording, made on the afternoon of 21 April 2024.
Adams found that Billings “acted out of retribution, revenge and extreme hatred” for Ticehurst, who had reported the rape allegations. The judge also described the murder as “a serious public justice offence,” on the ground that Billings had killed the only witness in his potential rape trial.
A former mine worker who previously lived in Dalby, Queensland, Billings did not look in the direction of a large image of Ticehurst held up in court by her friend Gaby Shepherd when he entered the dock. Instead, he “stared straight ahead and shook his head any time the sexual assault allegations were mentioned by the judge,” The Guardian reported.
Prosecutors did not seek a life sentence. Billings pleaded guilty to murder after more than 500 days of legal negotiations, a process that led to the sexual assault charges being dropped in November 2025. Charges of property damage, the animal-cruelty offence and breaching the apprehended violence order were taken into consideration at sentencing.
Adams offered her condolences to the Ticehurst family. “It is clear that Molly’s senseless death has had a significant impact on those who loved her,” she said.
Ticehurst’s murder intensified a national campaign against domestic and gendered violence in Australia. The Guardian reported that the movement sparked changes to NSW laws, including stripping court registrars of the power to grant bail, introducing “show cause” thresholds for domestic-violence-related bail applications, and electronic monitoring for accused people.
Billings will be eligible for parole in April 2044. In Australia, domestic and family violence counselling is available from Full Stop Australia on 1800 385 578.