Molly Ticehurst killer's sentence delayed again as psychiatrist raises shock bid that could downgrade murder to manslaughter

By STEPHANIE GARDINER and CANDACE SUTTON, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 23:06, 24 May 2026 | Updated: 23:14, 24 May 2026 The case against the man who murdered Molly Ticehurst has been hit with yet another delay, after a psychiatrist raised the possibility he could be tried for manslaughter due to mental illness. Ms Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead in her home at Forbes, in the state's central west, in the early hours of April 22, 2024. Daniel Billings stabbed her 15 times in a ferocious attack that lasted less than a minute, after repeatedly threatening to break into her bedroom and kill her in the weeks and months before. He had been charged with several counts of raping Ms Ticehurst and a string of domestic violence offences on April 5, 2024, but was freed on bail by a local court registrar the next day. Police had taken out a provisional apprehended violence order against Billings. After 18 months of legal delays, Billings pleaded guilty at Forbes Local Court on November 14, 2025 to Ms Ticehurst's domestic violence murder. He was due to face a two-day sentencing hearing in Orange on June 1. But on Friday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Natalie Adams was told a forensic psychiatrist found Billings was affected by a depressive illness at the time of the murder. The case against Molly Ticehurst's killer has been delayed again after he pleaded guilty months ago Daniel Billings quietly watched proceedings from the supermax wing of Goulburn jail  The condition could be considered a "substantial impairment" and satisfy a partial defence to murder, allowing Billings to be tried for manslaughter instead, according to the psychiatrist's report. Defence barrister Sarah Talbert said Billings wanted to proceed on the murder charge and only rely on the psychiatric evidence to be taken into account when the judge considered the sentence. Crown prosecutor Lee Carr SC filed a motion to delay Billings' sentencing so prosecutors could engage their own expert. The crown expert would assess Billings using 1200 pages of medical information because he did not consent to seeing another psychiatrist, the court was told. Justice Adams tentatively set down a new sentence hearing date for September 7. "It's highly unlikely that anyone would be able to get on that material and write a report in the next five days," Justice Adams said of the crown expert's availability. Billings quietly watched proceedings from the supermax wing of Goulburn jail. Legal delays have long frustrated Ms Ticehurst's family. When the case was adjourned for the final time before the pleas in the local court, Ms Ticehurst's father Tony Ticehurst said the long wait had caused their family deep distress. "It seems to me that in life, the system let Molly down and in death continues the same route," Mr Ticehurst told reporters in Forbes. "Instead of getting closure, all we get is anxiety, sadness and heartache." The sexual assault charges against Billings were dropped when he pleaded guilty to murder. Charges of property damage, animal cruelty offences and breaching the apprehended violence order will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced. The matter will be mentioned again in August. Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491 National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.