Non-Fiction — Commended, Jane E. Lee
Jane E Lee is a retired General Manager who has been writing for many years. She was regularly publishing short mystery stories in popular magazines when other aspects of her career intervened.
These days, when not writing, she volunteers with Lifeline and works with terminally-ill people to document their life stories for loved ones.
Into the Park is her first Thunderbolt entry.
These days, when not writing, she volunteers with Lifeline and works with terminally-ill people to document their life stories for loved ones.
Into the Park is her first Thunderbolt entry.
Into the Park
Princes Park, Melbourne, can be magical at night.
Its thirty-nine hectares are screened from brightly-lit Royal Parade, to the west, by shadowy rows of elms and Moreton Bay figs. The winding ribbon of Princes Park Drive and the blackness of Melbourne General Cemetery fringe the park’s east. Early on winter evenings, joggers and cyclists throng the adjacent footpaths and soccer teams train on flood-lit fields. But later, when the arc-lights snap out, the park becomes a silent pool of darkness, flecked with light from scattered lamp-posts.
Stepping into the late-night park can seem like crossing into fairyland.
Perhaps that’s how it felt to the young woman who, in the early hours of 13 June 2018, veered off the pavement and strolled east through the trees. She took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the damp grass, something she’d often done. She’d told her boyfriend that “nothing bad could ever happen” there. At 12.02am she’d messaged “I’m nearly home.”
Around 2.50am, a passer-by stumbled on something horrifying. And when, sometime after 4.00am, a young man went to the park for the second time that night, police turned him back from a crime-scene.
Eurydice Dixon hadn’t made it home. Earlier that evening, she’d crossed paths with a dangerous man.
Its thirty-nine hectares are screened from brightly-lit Royal Parade, to the west, by shadowy rows of elms and Moreton Bay figs. The winding ribbon of Princes Park Drive and the blackness of Melbourne General Cemetery fringe the park’s east. Early on winter evenings, joggers and cyclists throng the adjacent footpaths and soccer teams train on flood-lit fields. But later, when the arc-lights snap out, the park becomes a silent pool of darkness, flecked with light from scattered lamp-posts.
Stepping into the late-night park can seem like crossing into fairyland.
Perhaps that’s how it felt to the young woman who, in the early hours of 13 June 2018, veered off the pavement and strolled east through the trees. She took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the damp grass, something she’d often done. She’d told her boyfriend that “nothing bad could ever happen” there. At 12.02am she’d messaged “I’m nearly home.”
Around 2.50am, a passer-by stumbled on something horrifying. And when, sometime after 4.00am, a young man went to the park for the second time that night, police turned him back from a crime-scene.
Eurydice Dixon hadn’t made it home. Earlier that evening, she’d crossed paths with a dangerous man.
***
There’s never been a mystery about who killed Ms Dixon – it was just hours before the killer’s friends, recognising his picture on the 6 o’clock news, insisted he go to police.
The mystery is how a 19-year-old boy with no criminal record apparently morphed – in the space of a single hour - into a fully-fledged murderer. Today is August 15 2019, and I’ve flown from interstate to observe a hearing at Melbourne’s Supreme Court, hoping for answers.
The court sits on the corner of William and Lonsdale Streets, an impressive, Victorian-era stone edifice graced with arched windows and elaborate columns. I enter from Lonsdale Street, weaving through a cluster of uniformed schoolkids queueing for a tour, and head upstairs to the public gallery of Court Three.
From here I look down into the court through a thick security screen. The bench, where Justice Stephen Kaye will preside, is on the opposite wall. The jury-box to the side is occupied today by Ms Dixon’s family and friends. At the bar-table, prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers and defence counsel Mr Tim Marsh are already seated.
As we wait for the judge, my neighbour on the hard wooden seats, a court-support worker who’s popped in to listen, asks conversationally why I’m here.
It’s complicated: how to convey in idle chat that what happened to Eurydice feels personal. That I have my own – trivial but disturbing – history in Princes Park. I settle for saying “Well, years ago, that was my local park.”
But my answer’s cut off when the tipstaff directs us to stand for the judge.
The mystery is how a 19-year-old boy with no criminal record apparently morphed – in the space of a single hour - into a fully-fledged murderer. Today is August 15 2019, and I’ve flown from interstate to observe a hearing at Melbourne’s Supreme Court, hoping for answers.
The court sits on the corner of William and Lonsdale Streets, an impressive, Victorian-era stone edifice graced with arched windows and elaborate columns. I enter from Lonsdale Street, weaving through a cluster of uniformed schoolkids queueing for a tour, and head upstairs to the public gallery of Court Three.
From here I look down into the court through a thick security screen. The bench, where Justice Stephen Kaye will preside, is on the opposite wall. The jury-box to the side is occupied today by Ms Dixon’s family and friends. At the bar-table, prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers and defence counsel Mr Tim Marsh are already seated.
As we wait for the judge, my neighbour on the hard wooden seats, a court-support worker who’s popped in to listen, asks conversationally why I’m here.
It’s complicated: how to convey in idle chat that what happened to Eurydice feels personal. That I have my own – trivial but disturbing – history in Princes Park. I settle for saying “Well, years ago, that was my local park.”
But my answer’s cut off when the tipstaff directs us to stand for the judge.
***
Jaymes Todd was born on 21 April 1999, and by age 12 he’d been referred for a mental health assessment. He’d been clashing with authority since primary school, and at the Royal Children’s Hospital he was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Doctors concluded that, although intelligent, Todd had emotional and behavioural problems. By late 2015, having been expelled in Year 8, Todd was taking ADHD medication and undergoing therapy to manage anger and frustration.
On 12 June 2018, around 3.00pm, Todd completed a hospitality course at Hester Hornbrook Academy in Prahran. He smoked weed and drank with friends before boarding a train home to Broadmeadows around 8.30pm.
But then he changed his mind.
He got off the train and returned to Flinders St Station. There, around 11.00pm, he saw 22-year-old Eurydice.
As she strolled up wide, tree-lined Royal Parade, Ms Dixon may have been thinking of the successful comedy set she’d just performed at the Highlander Club. She may have thought of her barista training-course, or the boyfriend she’d seen earlier. She wouldn’t have been thinking of someone like Jaymes Todd.
But for months Todd had been thinking about - perhaps even hoping to encounter - someone just like her.
On 12 June 2018, around 3.00pm, Todd completed a hospitality course at Hester Hornbrook Academy in Prahran. He smoked weed and drank with friends before boarding a train home to Broadmeadows around 8.30pm.
But then he changed his mind.
He got off the train and returned to Flinders St Station. There, around 11.00pm, he saw 22-year-old Eurydice.
As she strolled up wide, tree-lined Royal Parade, Ms Dixon may have been thinking of the successful comedy set she’d just performed at the Highlander Club. She may have thought of her barista training-course, or the boyfriend she’d seen earlier. She wouldn’t have been thinking of someone like Jaymes Todd.
But for months Todd had been thinking about - perhaps even hoping to encounter - someone just like her.
***
In Court Three today there’s no jousting over presumed innocence. Todd pleaded guilty, on November 8 2018, to murder, rape, attempted rape and sexual assault. At this sentencing hearing, Justice Kaye will hear psychiatric assessments from expert witnesses. It’s their insights I’ve come from Sydney to hear.
Proceedings begin with Dr Rogers reading a summary of facts. Then Ms Dixon’s sister, Polly Cotton, and boyfriend, Tony Magnuson, give victim impact statements. Ms Cotton spends her days “seething with irrational rage,” wishing she could have saved Eurydice. Mr Magnuson suffers flashbacks and wakes to the sound of screams.
From my seat, I can’t see Todd’s reaction. In photos his eyes are heavy-lidded, closed-off, but his bearded, heavy-jawed face has the softness of youth. Remorse is taken into account in sentencing: tonight the media will report that, during the impact statements, Todd appeared to weep.
But then a court official cues up the CCTV footage.
Proceedings begin with Dr Rogers reading a summary of facts. Then Ms Dixon’s sister, Polly Cotton, and boyfriend, Tony Magnuson, give victim impact statements. Ms Cotton spends her days “seething with irrational rage,” wishing she could have saved Eurydice. Mr Magnuson suffers flashbacks and wakes to the sound of screams.
From my seat, I can’t see Todd’s reaction. In photos his eyes are heavy-lidded, closed-off, but his bearded, heavy-jawed face has the softness of youth. Remorse is taken into account in sentencing: tonight the media will report that, during the impact statements, Todd appeared to weep.
But then a court official cues up the CCTV footage.
***
It’s true that, though Todd went to police reluctantly, what we know about Ms Dixon’s final moments comes from his admissions.
It’s from Todd police learned that he blitz-attacked Ms Dixon from behind, dragging her to the ground. That he sat on her chest, pinned her arms with his knees when she fought back – Dr Rogers say she fought “like the Dickens” – ripped her clothes and choked her one-handed while digitally penetrating her. That he tried to shove his penis into her, slapping it against her lips when he couldn’t keep an erection. That he finally choked her with both hands for “5-10 minutes.”
Todd’s account here rings true, because it squares with the autopsy findings: Ms Dixon died from asphyxiation, and her neck was bruised. Her forehead was bruised with an underlying haemorrhage, there were bruises to her jaw, hands, arms and legs, and injuries to the vagina and anus.
But Todd was less forthcoming about why he was in that park.
After initially denying involvement, when police chipped away at his story with over 700 questions, he claimed he’d been walking north and Ms Dixon happened to be ahead of him. Or he’d followed her because she was “a drunk idiot” who might “do something funny” (she’d consumed no alcohol). Or he’d gone into the park to urinate, then decided to rob her. In this version, she attacked him when he grabbed her bag, nearly got him to the ground, and he knelt on her to avoid being injured. He decided he “might as well” rape her, and choked her to get away.
But then there’s that inconvenient camera footage.
It’s from Todd police learned that he blitz-attacked Ms Dixon from behind, dragging her to the ground. That he sat on her chest, pinned her arms with his knees when she fought back – Dr Rogers say she fought “like the Dickens” – ripped her clothes and choked her one-handed while digitally penetrating her. That he tried to shove his penis into her, slapping it against her lips when he couldn’t keep an erection. That he finally choked her with both hands for “5-10 minutes.”
Todd’s account here rings true, because it squares with the autopsy findings: Ms Dixon died from asphyxiation, and her neck was bruised. Her forehead was bruised with an underlying haemorrhage, there were bruises to her jaw, hands, arms and legs, and injuries to the vagina and anus.
But Todd was less forthcoming about why he was in that park.
After initially denying involvement, when police chipped away at his story with over 700 questions, he claimed he’d been walking north and Ms Dixon happened to be ahead of him. Or he’d followed her because she was “a drunk idiot” who might “do something funny” (she’d consumed no alcohol). Or he’d gone into the park to urinate, then decided to rob her. In this version, she attacked him when he grabbed her bag, nearly got him to the ground, and he knelt on her to avoid being injured. He decided he “might as well” rape her, and choked her to get away.
But then there’s that inconvenient camera footage.
***
The video projected onto the court’s side wall is grainy. But it clearly shows Todd’s movements.
From Flinders Street at 11.05pm to the last camera-sighting outside Melbourne University at 11.54pm, he tracks Eurydice. He passes her. He sits on milk-crates till she overtakes him. He dodges behind pillars. He pauses to keep his distance and rolls cigarettes as a pretext for stopping.
Watching, it’s hard not to think that, for nearly an hour and over a distance of 4.2km, Jaymes Todd was enjoying himself.
From Flinders Street at 11.05pm to the last camera-sighting outside Melbourne University at 11.54pm, he tracks Eurydice. He passes her. He sits on milk-crates till she overtakes him. He dodges behind pillars. He pauses to keep his distance and rolls cigarettes as a pretext for stopping.
Watching, it’s hard not to think that, for nearly an hour and over a distance of 4.2km, Jaymes Todd was enjoying himself.
***
Two things about Todd became known after the murder: his autism, and his heavy drinking.
Both played into quick, reflexive assumptions about what had happened. A makeshift memorial to Ms Dixon was marred when 29-year-old Andrew Nolch painted a 25-meter phallus on the grass hours before a candle-light vigil that drew thousands. Nolch was irked that “feminists hi-jacked” Eurydice’s death and made it “about women’s rights” to be safe instead of, as he claimed, the “link” (scientifically discredited) between vaccination and autism.
It takes a special kind of mind to decide that a young woman’s death is not about her. But Todd’s autism will be discussed today.
We’re used to cases like that of Adrian Bayley, who, before murdering Jill Meagher in Brunswick in September 2012, had a long history of violent sex attacks. Or that of Sean Price, out on bail when he stabbed 17-year-old Masa Vukotic to death in Doncaster in 2015. How to explain how Todd, with no history of attacking women, became the smooth, surreptitious stalker on that tape? Does autism explain it? Is this a case of social disconnection, worsened by drink, gone wrong?
Both played into quick, reflexive assumptions about what had happened. A makeshift memorial to Ms Dixon was marred when 29-year-old Andrew Nolch painted a 25-meter phallus on the grass hours before a candle-light vigil that drew thousands. Nolch was irked that “feminists hi-jacked” Eurydice’s death and made it “about women’s rights” to be safe instead of, as he claimed, the “link” (scientifically discredited) between vaccination and autism.
It takes a special kind of mind to decide that a young woman’s death is not about her. But Todd’s autism will be discussed today.
We’re used to cases like that of Adrian Bayley, who, before murdering Jill Meagher in Brunswick in September 2012, had a long history of violent sex attacks. Or that of Sean Price, out on bail when he stabbed 17-year-old Masa Vukotic to death in Doncaster in 2015. How to explain how Todd, with no history of attacking women, became the smooth, surreptitious stalker on that tape? Does autism explain it? Is this a case of social disconnection, worsened by drink, gone wrong?
***
Dr David Thomas is a consultant psychiatrist with experience in the UK and Australia. James Ogloff is Foundation Professor of Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University.
Between them they’ve spent hours with Todd, interviewed family, friends and treating doctors. Thomas has viewed video of the home Todd shared with his parents and brothers. The squalid, filthy conditions are the worst he’s seen.
As the experts are led through their reports, Thomas by Mr Marsh, Ogloff by Dr Rogers, they largely agree, except on one issue.
Dr Thomas, called first, quickly dismisses alcohol and drugs as factors: Todd’s “severe” substance abuse has created a tolerance. His consumption that day – vodka, cider, whiskey, marijuana – was, for him, “moderate.” Professor Ogloff has administered the Hare psychopathy checklist. Thomas concurs that Todd is not psychopathic.
Both agree Todd’s autism is mild. Repetitive childhood behaviours, an obsessive interest in dinosaurs, rigidity about modes of transport, have improved with age. Neither finds cognitive impairment, though Dr Thomas finds language difficulties, noticeable to an expert. Todd had friends. A sexual relationship with a girlfriend.
But here, finally, is a new puzzle piece. Over months, Todd has nourished a fantasy of raping and choking women. He’s spent 12-18 months viewing snuff porn. He’s practised choking his partner during sex, desisting on her signal. Jaymes Todd is thrilled by having power over a victim, inflicting pain and fear. His fantasies always culminate in murder.
He has coercive sexual sadism disorder.
Between them they’ve spent hours with Todd, interviewed family, friends and treating doctors. Thomas has viewed video of the home Todd shared with his parents and brothers. The squalid, filthy conditions are the worst he’s seen.
As the experts are led through their reports, Thomas by Mr Marsh, Ogloff by Dr Rogers, they largely agree, except on one issue.
Dr Thomas, called first, quickly dismisses alcohol and drugs as factors: Todd’s “severe” substance abuse has created a tolerance. His consumption that day – vodka, cider, whiskey, marijuana – was, for him, “moderate.” Professor Ogloff has administered the Hare psychopathy checklist. Thomas concurs that Todd is not psychopathic.
Both agree Todd’s autism is mild. Repetitive childhood behaviours, an obsessive interest in dinosaurs, rigidity about modes of transport, have improved with age. Neither finds cognitive impairment, though Dr Thomas finds language difficulties, noticeable to an expert. Todd had friends. A sexual relationship with a girlfriend.
But here, finally, is a new puzzle piece. Over months, Todd has nourished a fantasy of raping and choking women. He’s spent 12-18 months viewing snuff porn. He’s practised choking his partner during sex, desisting on her signal. Jaymes Todd is thrilled by having power over a victim, inflicting pain and fear. His fantasies always culminate in murder.
He has coercive sexual sadism disorder.
***
My experience in Princes Park, decades ago, played out over three nights. Going through a rough patch, I’d pound out my frustrations walking laps. Around 6.30 one evening, at the busy corner of Royal Parade and Cemetery Road, I heard a noise and jumped aside. A boy of 15-16 whooshed past on a bike. He’d almost hit me, and he turned back, not with an apology, but with a disturbing gloating expression. The next evening, at the same time and place, there was no warning – just a hand that snaked out from behind and thrust between my thighs. I stopped dead in shock. As he coasted past, he turned his head and fixed his eyes on mine.
The look in them chilled me.
The police wouldn’t take a complaint. They said “boys will be boys.” I should “quit going to the park” - but should “come back if he starts hanging around your place.”
The look in them chilled me.
The police wouldn’t take a complaint. They said “boys will be boys.” I should “quit going to the park” - but should “come back if he starts hanging around your place.”
***
Dr Thomas and Professor Ogloff agree that Todd’s sexual sadism was the main factor in the crime. They concur that autism doesn’t predispose to violent offending, but Thomas sees autism’s repetitive behaviours as contributing to Todd’s violent porn consumption. Professor Ogloff differs, saying the habit was merely “sporadic.”
Thomas argues autism made Todd unaware of his behaviour’s impact on Ms Dixon. Ogloff thinks he was acutely aware of her as he stalked, then attacked. Her pain and fear were the point of his fantasy.
Listening from the gallery, I imagine Todd’s glee at overpowering a woman. Humiliating her. Imposing his will.
I’ve encountered a milder form of that before.
Thomas argues autism made Todd unaware of his behaviour’s impact on Ms Dixon. Ogloff thinks he was acutely aware of her as he stalked, then attacked. Her pain and fear were the point of his fantasy.
Listening from the gallery, I imagine Todd’s glee at overpowering a woman. Humiliating her. Imposing his will.
I’ve encountered a milder form of that before.
***
I’m staying near Princes Park, and after court I lace on my runners to walk. But there are fewer joggers than I remember and, realising I’ve lost touch with the park’s rhythms, I do a “safe” lap - in my rental car. At the northern end of Princes Park Drive I stop.
Years ago, the last act of my minor drama played out here. I’d stayed watchful, hadn’t sighted the boy in a week. At 7.00pm there was no traffic. The normally flood-lit tennis courts were empty, dark. I heard a faint sound.
I spun around, and he was there. He’d set his bike on the ground and was standing right behind me. Wiry. Muscular. Stronger than me. A fierce, malicious joy was blazing in his eyes.
I’ve never known where the words came from, but I screamed: “I’ve got a knife. Come one step closer and I’ll cut your fucking balls off.” And right then, a large dog burst out of the bushes. The boy grabbed the bike, turned and raced away in the opposite direction. I never saw him again.
That night, he’d picked a deserted spot and dismounted.
For thirty years I’ve wondered what would’ve come next.
Years ago, the last act of my minor drama played out here. I’d stayed watchful, hadn’t sighted the boy in a week. At 7.00pm there was no traffic. The normally flood-lit tennis courts were empty, dark. I heard a faint sound.
I spun around, and he was there. He’d set his bike on the ground and was standing right behind me. Wiry. Muscular. Stronger than me. A fierce, malicious joy was blazing in his eyes.
I’ve never known where the words came from, but I screamed: “I’ve got a knife. Come one step closer and I’ll cut your fucking balls off.” And right then, a large dog burst out of the bushes. The boy grabbed the bike, turned and raced away in the opposite direction. I never saw him again.
That night, he’d picked a deserted spot and dismounted.
For thirty years I’ve wondered what would’ve come next.
***
After the murder, Todd napped in nearby Royal Park, then returned to the scene but couldn’t reach the body. He ate a pie and went home. He googled “Princes Park.” He viewed choking porn. Then friends made him contact police. While being held before sentencing, he said in a phone-call his experience was “disappointing.” He “hoped it would be better next time.”
***
In a gentle voice, barely audible due to the court’s notoriously bad acoustics, Mr Marsh does his best for his client. He highlights Todd’s youth. His remorse, and cooperation with police.
The prosecution does not seek a life sentence.
The prosecution does not seek a life sentence.
***
On Monday September 2, Justice Kaye sentences Todd to life imprisonment, with no possibility of parole for 35 years.
The judge has found premeditation and poor rehabilitation prospects. A wish to murder women while raping them can’t be erased. Behaviour can possibly be managed with anti-libidinals – suppressing fantasy along with sex-drive – but offenders stop taking the meds.
Justice Kaye wants to ensure women are safe from Jaymes Todd for a very long time.
The judge has found premeditation and poor rehabilitation prospects. A wish to murder women while raping them can’t be erased. Behaviour can possibly be managed with anti-libidinals – suppressing fantasy along with sex-drive – but offenders stop taking the meds.
Justice Kaye wants to ensure women are safe from Jaymes Todd for a very long time.
***
On Monday September 2, Justice Kaye sentences Todd to life imprisonment, with no possibility of parole for 35 years.
The judge has found premeditation and poor rehabilitation prospects. A wish to murder women while raping them can’t be erased. Behaviour can possibly be managed with anti-libidinals – suppressing fantasy along with sex-drive – but offenders stop taking the meds.
Justice Kaye wants to ensure women are safe from Jaymes Todd for a very long time.
The judge has found premeditation and poor rehabilitation prospects. A wish to murder women while raping them can’t be erased. Behaviour can possibly be managed with anti-libidinals – suppressing fantasy along with sex-drive – but offenders stop taking the meds.
Justice Kaye wants to ensure women are safe from Jaymes Todd for a very long time.
***
The hearing has answered some questions for me, but raised others.
The development of sexual sadism disorder is not fully understood. Many people watch snuff porn. Few act out – Ogloff says too many inhibitors come into play. For 17 days before the murder, Todd web-searched “emo girls” – young women dressed like Ms Dixon. She must have slotted straight into his fantasy.
Around that time, friends were noticing changes in him – perhaps, Dr Thomas thinks, the uncertainty around his course ending.
Or perhaps the urge to act was getting stronger.
Was this really the first incident? Todd denies previously following women. But on the CCTV footage, his stalking looks practised. Had he tried before, not found a place to strike? Did he return to town that night seeking a victim?
The development of sexual sadism disorder is not fully understood. Many people watch snuff porn. Few act out – Ogloff says too many inhibitors come into play. For 17 days before the murder, Todd web-searched “emo girls” – young women dressed like Ms Dixon. She must have slotted straight into his fantasy.
Around that time, friends were noticing changes in him – perhaps, Dr Thomas thinks, the uncertainty around his course ending.
Or perhaps the urge to act was getting stronger.
Was this really the first incident? Todd denies previously following women. But on the CCTV footage, his stalking looks practised. Had he tried before, not found a place to strike? Did he return to town that night seeking a victim?
***
Polly Cotton says: “Eurydice lived an honourable life. She was gutsy and determined and clever.”
***
On 13 June 2018, Eurydice Dixon stepped into the peaceful magic of Princes Park. She should have been safe there.
But Jaymes Todd followed. He stepped into a dark fantasy rehearsed, not for an hour, but for months or years. What ensued Justice Kaye describes as “totally and categorically evil."
Where does a drive like Todd’s comes from? To dominate. Violate. Destroy.
I remember the thing that flared in a teenager’s eyes, decades ago. And realise Justice Kaye’s words are the best explanation we’ll get.
But Jaymes Todd followed. He stepped into a dark fantasy rehearsed, not for an hour, but for months or years. What ensued Justice Kaye describes as “totally and categorically evil."
Where does a drive like Todd’s comes from? To dominate. Violate. Destroy.
I remember the thing that flared in a teenager’s eyes, decades ago. And realise Justice Kaye’s words are the best explanation we’ll get.
