Murder of Eurydice Dixon

Eurydice Jane Dixon (10 November 1995 – 13 June 2018) was an Australian comedian and actress based in Melbourne, Victoria. She studied drama at Deakin University, performed with the Moreland Theatre Company and in RMIT's "Snatches" short-play program, and in 2018 made her Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut with a solo stand-up show, *At Home, I Feel Like a Tourist*, at Melbourne's Highlander Bar (Wikipedia).

On the night of 12–13 June 2018, Dixon performed at Highlander Bar and was walking home afterward when she was attacked in Melbourne's Princes Park. She was raped and murdered. Her body was found in the park on the morning of 13 June 2018 (Wikipedia). The attack and discovery of her body were reported in contemporaneous news coverage at the time (ABC News).

The perpetrator was Jaymes Todd, a 19-year-old hospitality student from Broadmeadows, who turned himself in to police after CCTV footage of him was publicly released. Todd pleaded guilty to Dixon's rape and murder on 8 November 2018. On 2 September 2019 he was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 35 years. Todd later appealed his sentence, arguing it was excessive given his guilty plea and a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome; the appeal was denied (Wikipedia).

Dixon's death drew extensive media coverage and prompted an outpouring of tributes from the comedy community, including from comedians Julia Morris, Paula Ferrari, Alex Lee and Jane Kennedy, among others. On 18 June 2018, a vigil was held at the Princes Park soccer pitch where her body had been found; it was attended by an estimated ten thousand people, including Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. A separate vigil was held at Parliament House in Canberra, attended by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (Wikipedia).

On the morning of the Princes Park vigil, offensive markings were found spray-painted at the site of floral tributes left for Dixon. A men's rights activist, Andrew Nolch, was found guilty of criminal damage over the vandalism and was sentenced in September 2018 (Wikipedia; news.com.au).

In her memory, the Victorian state government announced the "Stand Up!" grants for emerging female comedians on 17 March 2019. Susan Provan, director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, described the grant as inspired by Dixon's "promise and ambition," recalling her as "brilliant, brave and beautiful." Also in 2019, author Joanne Brookfield dedicated her book *No Apologies*, about Australian female comedians, to Dixon, including a description of her comedy act and the Melbourne comedy community's reaction to her death (Wikipedia).