‘He will hurt me’: Molly Ticehurst said she feared for her life in series of notes before her ex-boyfriend Daniel Billings murdered her

“I truly believe he will hurt me and he will not stop contacting me. I live in fear for my life … my family and my animals.”

Terrified, Molly Ticehurst wrote this note on March 4, 2024, after her former partner, Daniel Billings, allegedly raped her and wielded a knife while threatening to kill her.

She told a friend, “If I end up dead he 100% did it” later that evening.

The young mum was scared Billings would kill her if she reported him to police, having said to her own mother in January that he had allegedly told her he would “come through the window and kill her”.

By April, Billings allegedly told her he would “get to you if that is the last thing I do” and he would “come in the middle of the night and cut your head off”.

Ms Ticehurst repeatedly pleaded with Billings to leave her alone, asking him in a series of text messages how he expected her to trust him and if he really thought he still had a chance with her.

“It was hard enough trusting you after knowing you killed our dog and I had to lie to people about it,” she said.

She finally worked up the courage to seek help and made a series of domestic violence and sexual assault allegations to police on April 5, 2024. Weeks later, she was dead.

Her allegations to police enraged Billings, with the then-29-year-old telling a friend he had “never felt so angry” and “If I’m going to do the time, I may as well do the crime”.

He denied the accusations but admitted to killing their dachshund puppy with a hammer the year prior.

The court was unable to make a finding on the sexual assault allegations as the only witness, Ms Ticehurst, was murdered, meaning the charges could not proceed.

However Justice Natalie Adams was satisfied Billings murdered the young mother in an act of “retribution” for going to the police.

Billings was released on bail the day after his arrest and an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) was made preventing Billings from approaching or contacting her, trying to find her, or going within 10km of her home.

Fearing for her safety, Ms Ticehurst fled Forbes for a week and had her mother stay at her home on another occasion.