Herrmann, 21, has pleaded guilty to rape and murder and prosecutors want Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth to sentence him to life in prison. Ms Maasarwe felt safer calling someone when walking to her student accommodation after nights out, prosecutor Patrick Bourke said, and she had just connected when Herrmann struck. Aiia Maasarwe was studying English at La Trobe University. Credit:Instagram Ruba told police Aiia said to her: ‘‘I didn’t expect you to pick up.’’ She then heard Aiia screaming and swearing in Arabic before saying: ‘‘You piece of shit.’’

Ruba also heard four bangs consistent with someone hitting somebody or something. Over the following hours, Ruba and their other sister, Noor, who was living in China as a student, tried to contact Aiia, until Noor called Victoria Police to raise the alarm. It was at this time, about 7am on January 16, that a passerby found Aiia's body. A smashed phone found at the scene. Credit:Supreme Court of Victoria Mr Bourke said Herrmann dragged Ms Maasarwe onto a small patch of grass off Main Drive near the shopping centre entrance and raped and then murdered her, by striking her another nine times to the head with the pipe.

He then sprayed cleaning agent WD-40 over Ms Maasarwe’s body and set it alight with a barbecue lighter. It is unclear whether she was alive or dead when he did this. Codey Herrmann fled through the nature reserve opposite the shopping centre after he attacked Aiia Maasarwe. A photo released by the Supreme Court showing the shoes found at the scene. Defence counsel Tim Marsh said Herrmann maintained Ms Maasarwe was dead when he burnt her body, and that he did so to avoid detection. Justice Hollingworth lifted a suppression order, which had prevented media from reporting some parts of the offending. She allowed the description of the offending to help explain her eventual sentencing reasons.

Codey Herrmann arrives at the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Tuesday Credit:AAP Herrmann was arrested two days later. CCTV footage recorded in the hours before the attack, from when Herrmann was in a Bundoora shopping centre, showed him wearing a cap with the date ‘‘1986’’ on the front. The same cap was caught on a fence in the nature reserve where police also found a T-shirt, the pipe and the WD-40 can. When asked if he killed Ms Maasarwe, Herrmann told police ‘‘I didn’t kill no one’’, until he pleaded guilty in June. Codey Herrmann was arrested soon after the murder. Credit:Paul Jeffers

In the weeks before the attack, Herrmann entered the student accommodation where Ms Maasarwe was living, Mr Bourke said, when he told a woman he had lost his key and was let inside. However, there is nothing to suggest he knew Ms Maasarwe. She had been in central Melbourne in the hours beforehand, attending a social gathering at Flagstaff Gardens to practise English with other international students, and then a comedy gig with friends. CCTV footage shows her catching the 86 tram from Bourke Street. In victim impact statements, family members described Ms Maasarwe as a vital, beautiful, optimistic and caring young woman who had chosen to pursue a different life and study in Australia because she considered it safe.

She spoke Arabic, Hebrew, English and Mandarin, having also previously studied in China. Mr Bourke paused several times as he read the statement of Kittam Maasarwe, who questioned how her daughter could be attacked while walking home. "Your honour, why? Why should I lose my daughter because of a reckless monster in the form of a human being, without conscience or mercy?" she said. Ms Maasarwe was found outside the Polaris shopping centre on January 16. Credit:AAP "Why should a girl feel unsafe when she returns from her lessons or an outing? Where is justice, law and humanity?"

Ruba Maasarwe couldn’t imagine the fear and horror her sister endured when Herrmann attacked her. Loading ‘‘I hope you see my sister’s innocent face every night just before you fall asleep, just like we do,’’ she said in her statement, directed to Herrmann. Family members weren’t in court. Noor Maasarwe recalled bracing to be told her sister was kidnapped, until the shock of what really happened hit. ‘‘It seems like we are stepping forward with technology and way backwards with humanity,’’ she said.

Herrmann was unemployed and squatting in an abandoned home in Greensborough at the time and in the days before the murder, told an associate: ‘‘Bro, I just had like five psychoses. I saw a murder in my head.’’ Mr Marsh said his client was an Aboriginal man whose upbringing was marked by disadvantage and dislocation, and whose life centred around getting ice and cannabis, and shoplifting to survive. Mr Marsh said it was difficult to explain how a young man with no criminal convictions committed a ‘‘violent and brutal attack’’ on a woman who was entitled to feel safe as she walked home. The hearing continues on Wednesday.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). Correction: An earlier version of this story reported prosecutors want Herrmann sentenced to life in prison without parole. That was incorrect. Prosecutors are seeking a life prison term, with a parole period.