Despite his original intention to go on trial for the murder of 26-year-old Ioli Hadjilyra on Monday, Bradley Scott Edwards, 38, admitted the manslaughter of Cypriot-Australian Ioli Hadjilyra. The story of Ms Hadjilyra’s murder became highly publicised after September 4, 2019, when a group of council workers discovered the victim’s badly bruised and half-buried body in Kalinga Park in north Brisbane. Ms Hadjilyra was a talented sketch artist, and detectives found some of her sketches near her body.
The specific cause of Ms Hadjilyra’s death remains unknown. However, authorities say that the victim most likely lost her life after Edwards tried to smother her to death. There may have been complications related to drug use, but there has never been any doubt that her cause of death was Edwards’ attack.
Elizabeth Kelso, the Crown Prosecutor, stated that there was no proof Edwards helped Hadjilyra after he had hurt her, as he chose to hide her corpse and her personal belongings instead. Notably, Edwards had a lengthy record of nonviolent offences following his convictions for rape and torture as a juvenile.
According to the prosecutor, Ms Hadjilyra had a history of mental health issues and substance use, mainly of cannabis and methamphetamine usage. Mr Edwards and Ms Hadjilyra met in Brisbane’s CBD and caught public transport to the park to score drugs; however, Edwards was caught on CCTV departing by himself, which alarmed the authorities.
Upon hearing Mr Edwards’ initial apology, Justice Sue Brown said that prosecutors have acknowledged that Mr Edwards had a tragic background growing up, that he had faced severe mental health issues, and that perhaps he had no intention of killing Ms Hadjilyra. However, Justice Brown told Edwards, “You still did a terrible thing in the acts that took her life”.
“You left her alone, like she was worthless…she wasn’t… she was someone’s daughter, sister, [and] friend, she was loved.” Judge Brown said when passing sentence.
Edwards was given a sentence of nine years in jail with the possibility of parole this December, given he has already served four years and two months.
