This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

The man who raped and murdered the comedian Eurydice Dixon in a Melbourne park as she walked home from a night out with friends is fighting his life sentence.

Jaymes Todd was ordered to serve at least 35 years behind bars after pleading guilty to the horrific attack on the 22-year-old in Carlton North’s Princes Park in 2018.

She’d spent the night at a comedy club in the city and was close to home when she was killed by Todd, who had stalked her for more than an hour.

“Your actions in doing so were of pure and unmitigated evil,” Justice Stephen Kaye said in sentencing Todd last year.

Todd’s lawyer Daniel Gurvich QC said he accepted the enormity of Todd’s crimes warranted long sentences, but not as long as the terms he received.

Eurydice Dixon's father says he hopes killer 'gets better' after receiving life sentence Read more

“The crimes committed were heinous and horrific, and there’ll be no attempts to minimise the seriousness,” he told Victoria’s court of appeal on Tuesday.

Gurvich said there were eight mitigating factors to be considered, including the fact Todd was only 19 at the time of the killing. He had also pleaded guilty, made admissions to police, had an otherwise good character, and experienced disadvantage during his upbringing.

Todd has also been diagnosed with a mild form of autism and has been in protective custody since his arrest, Gurvich added.

A non-parole period that is too long becomes “counterproductive”, he argued during discussions about his potential to reoffend.

Todd has been diagnosed with a sexual sadism disorder, which Justice David Beach said was a “potent” indicator of a person’s likelihood of reoffending. There is no known effective treatment for the disorder.

Gurvich challenged Beach’s claim it would be speculation to say there might be some treatment developed in the future.

“It would be sheer speculation to say that there would not, sheer speculation to say he would reoffend in the same or similar way in 35, 40 or 50 years,” he said.