NSW: Man loses bid to change to reverse his murder guilty plea
21 Apr 2009 5:52 PM
SYDNEY, April 21 AAP - A former police employee has failed in a bid to reverse his plea of guilty to murdering his girlfriend, whose body has never been found.
Last November, Paul James Wilkinson, 33, a former Aboriginal liaison officer with the NSW Police Force, pleaded guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering Kylie Labouchardiere.
The 23-year-old student nurse was last seen alive at Sutherland, in Sydney's south, on April 28, 2004.
Her family reported her missing to Gosford police, but her body has never been found.
Last December as he was about to face a sentencing hearing, Wilkinson sacked his barrister and indicated he would make an application to change his murder plea to not guilty.
But he did not attempt to change his plea of guilty to a charge of arson, relating to a fire at the house he had lived in at Picnic Point, in southern Sydney.
After a hearing of many days, Justice Peter Johnson on Tuesday declined Wilkinson's application to reverse his plea.
He then proceeded to hear sentencing submissions, when victim impact statements were presented by members of Ms Labouchardiere's grieving family.
The submissions will continue on Wednesday.
