Lachlan Young has pleaded guilty to the murder of his ex-partner Hannah McGuire eight days into his trial.
The 23-year-old had admitted he killed his former girlfriend, pleading guilty to manslaughter at the start of the trial.
He admitted he burnt her body in her own car on 5 April 2024.
However, the matter went to trial as he pleaded not guilty to murder and claimed McGuire’s death was an “unplanned and spontaneous event”.
The supreme court trial began on 9 July in Ballarat, regional Victoria, where the murder occurred.
Young was accused of murdering McGuire in the early hours of 5 April, before driving her body in a Mitsubishi Triton to Scarsdale, south-west of Ballarat, and setting the ute alight.
Earlier in the week, witness Benjamin O’Keefe told the court he saw Young set fire to the Triton, and only learned later that McGuire’s body had been inside.
O’Keefe told the court on Wednesday he knew the orange ute belonged either to McGuire or her family, but claimed he never thought the 23-year-old was inside the vehicle when he followed Young to a remote bushland location.
“I didn’t know her body was in there,” O’Keefe told the jury on Wednesday.
Jurors did not sit on Thursday, but returned 10.30am on Friday when Young pleaded guilty to murder.
He will face a pre-sentence hearing at a later date.