This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A man has pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of international student Aiia Maasarwe.

Codey Hermann appeared via videolink in the Melbourne magistrates’ court on Friday over the 16 January attack, and when asked how he would plead to the charges of rape and murder answered: “I plead guilty.”

The 21-year-old woman’s body was discovered in the northern suburb of Bundoora, not far from where she alighted the route 86 tram on her way home after a night at a city comedy club.

Maasarwe, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who was studying in Melbourne, was buried in her home town of Baka al-Gharbiyye, an hour north of Tel Aviv.

Aspiring rapper Herrmann, who was homeless at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody two days after Maasarwe was found dead.

The matter will be listed for directions in the supreme court next Wednesday.