On 22 April 2024, two hours after stabbing his ex-girlfriend Molly Ticehurst to death, Daniel Billings called a woman he had met on the dating app Tinder. During the phone call at 2:02 a.m., he told the woman, "I'm sorry I murdered her." The woman, who had met Billings in early 2022, later provided a statement to police, describing how Billings spoke of the murder during their brief conversation. According to her account, Billings said he had gone to Ticehurst’s home in Forbes, where she started screaming, and he "did what he did." The call took place at a mutual friend’s property, where Billings had fled in bloodied clothes. The friend soon contacted the police, as revealed in court documents. Billings, a former mine worker, had pleaded guilty to stabbing Molly Ticehurst 15 times after breaking into her bedroom just before midnight on 21 April. He is now facing a two-day sentencing hearing in Orange, New South Wales, expected to conclude on Friday. Billings had been released on bail by a local court a fortnight before the murder. He had been charged with multiple sexual assault and domestic violence offences against Molly. After learning of her allegations of repeated rapes, Billings denied the crimes and became consumed with a desire to clear his name, according to court proceedings. During Thursday’s hearing, 90 minutes of video footage recorded by Billings before and after the murder were played. In the videos, he repeatedly claimed to have been wrongly accused of rape. Even after Ticehurst was found dead in her pyjamas, Billings continued to assert that he was a victim of injustice. In a video recorded immediately after the stabbing, he said, "I can't believe I just did that," while raising a bloodied hand to his face and appearing to retch. He also expressed confusion about why Ticehurst had accused him of rape, suggesting he believed she had a "game plan." The videos appeared to hint at a plan for Billings to take his own life after killing Molly. Forensic psychiatrist Olav Nielssen, representing Billings, told the court that many of the recordings could be interpreted as "goodbye videos," indicating Billings was suffering from significant depression. However, Crown expert Prof David Greenberg argued that Billings’ suicide threats should be understood in the context of the months of domestic abuse he had inflicted on Molly. Greenberg noted that Billings had made several threats against the victim and her family during the period of abuse. The sexual assault charges against Billings were eventually dropped after he pleaded guilty to murder in November 2025, following 18 months of legal negotiations. As the sentencing hearing continued, Billings listened from an elevated wooden dock, occasionally staring at the floor and shaking his head. Victim impact statements from Molly’s family, including her father Tony Ticehurst, who said, "When she died, part of me died with her," were heard in court. Justice Natalie Adams has indicated she will deliver her sentence later in September.