A CONVICTED killer has today formally pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to murdering Sarah Cafferkey at his Bacchus Marsh unit.
Steven James Hunter, 47, appeared briefly before Justice Elizabeth Curtain where he admitted stabbing Ms Cafferkey, 22, to death on November 10 last year.
Ms Cafferkey’s body was found encased in cement in a wheelie bin at a Point Cook house.
Hunter, who served 13 years in prison for murdering 18-year-old Jacqueline Mathews in 1986 after she rejected his sexual advances, was remanded to appear again on June 26 for a plea in mitigation hearing.
Justice Curtain said she would not read out Hunter’s prior criminal record because it was extensive and she would put it to him at a later stage.
Hunter, who was wearing prison greens and had his hair slicked back, stood in the dock flanked by two security guards and replied “guilty” when asked how he pleaded to one count of murdering Ms Cafferkey.
Hunter, who once escaped from Pentridge Prison, and Ms Cafferkey had been drinking at Hunter’s unit on Saturday afternoon, November 10 last year before an argument broke out and Hunter killed the young woman.
Ms Cafferkey had known Hunter through an ex-boyfriend.
A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Cafferkey had been stabbed 19 times to the head, neck, chest and abdomen.
Hunter left the apartment, leaving Ms Cafferkey’s body in the kitchen, before returning two days later. He took Ms Cafferkey’s body to Point Cook where he poured cement into a wheelie bin and placed her body inside.
Ms Cafferkey was reported missing by her distraught mother, Noelle Dickson, on November 12.
Her body was found in the wheelie bin on November 17 in the garage of the Point Cook home. Police had taken the bin for forensic examination after noticing a foul odour emanating from it. A CT scan confirmed Ms Cafferkey’s remains were inside.
Hunter was arrested three days later at a unit in Hawthorn.
He had been jailed for 13 years in 1988 for repeatedly stabbing his 18-year-old co-worker Jacqueline Mathews in her car in 1986 after she rejected his sexual advances.
At Ms Cafferkey’s funeral on November 27, was described as a bubbly young woman who loved to make people laugh.
Her mother said she did not want to comment this morning after Hunter’s court appearance.
