Murderer ordered pizza after beating his partner to death

But Rickerby didn't immediately call an ambulance when he got home, but ate a few slices of each pizza before calling his parents.

They asked him to call the emergency number, which he finally did half an hour later.

When paramedics arrived, they confirmed that Mrs Geddes was already dead.

Rickerby told police that when he returned from the pizzeria, he found Ms Geddes injured and unconscious. He immediately began CPR and called an ambulance.

Investigators did not immediately charge Rickerby in Ms Geddes' death in November 2020, but took until April 2022 to arrest him for the suspected murder.

He was extradited from Queensland and denied the charges, instead offering to plead guilty to manslaughter in May 2024.

The prosecution accepted the offer and Rickerby had to face a hearing on his guilty plea in the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Monday.

Police could not say exactly when Ms Geddes was killed, but it was sometime between 2.40pm and 5.55pm on November 6, prosecutor Campbell Thomson told the court.

A coroner concluded that Ms Geddes would have been dead for at least 30 minutes by the time paramedics examined her at 6.48pm.

She died as a result of broken bones and other injuries caused by Rickerby's punches, kicks and beatings, Thomson said.

Mrs Geddes had been physically and verbally abused by Rickerby for years before her death, the prosecutor said in court.

Neighbors and shop owners often saw them with black eyes and cuts and bruises on their faces and bodies.

In phone calls to her mother in Queensland, Ms Geddes repeatedly pleaded for help, with Rickerby often being heard screaming and swearing in the background.

Rickerby was never charged for the violence, although a six-month restraining order was issued against him in 2019.

After being charged with Ms Geddes' death, Rickerby claimed there was no violence in the relationship, citing Ms Geddes' drug history and mental health issues instead.

His lawyer Colin Mandy SC told the court that the relationship had been “chaotic and difficult”, with both Rickerby and Ms Geddes taking drugs and having financial problems.

Mr Mandy said Rickerby had shown remorse for the murder, as evidenced by his early guilty plea to the manslaughter charge.

The 30-year-old also has good prospects for rehabilitation, said Mandy.

Mr Thomson argued that Rickerby's prospects for rehabilitation were slim at best given that he had not worked since 2017 and had a long history of drug use.

This case is a serious case of manslaughter, exacerbated by years of family violence, Thomson said.

Saasha Brimble, Ms Geddes' mother, gave a tearful victim impact statement, telling the court that Rickerby had threatened to send her daughter back to Queensland in a body bag.

“Which was true,” she said.

Judge James Elliott indicated he would sentence Rickerby later this month.

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