Reo Te Whetu Marama Marsh pleads guilty to murdering Mary Benedito on Gold Coast
Mary Benedito's former partner has pleaded guilty to her murder. (Supplied)
In short:
The former partner of a young Gold Coast mother has pleaded guilty to her murder four years ago.
Mary Benedito died in hospital of her injuries after being found unconscious in a Southport apartment.
What's next?
The man will return to court later this month to receive a mandatory life sentence for the murder.
A man accused of killing his former partner on the Gold Coast more than four years ago has pleaded guilty to her murder.
Reo Te Whetu Marama Marsh, who was then 34 years old, was charged In November 2021 over Mary Benedito's death after she was found unresponsive in a Southport apartment.
The 25-year-old was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died.
At the time she died, police had alleged Marsh choked her and then fled with their 11-month-old son.
CCTV footage of Reo Te Whetu Marama Marsh carrying the couple's child. (Supplied: Queensland Police)
The child, who was the subject of an amber alert at the time, was later taken to a police station safe and well.
Marsh was set to fight the single charge at a Supreme Court trial listed for this month.
He instead appeared in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Thursday where he was arraigned and entered a guilty plea.
His arraignment took place in front of several of Ms Benedito's loved ones seated in the public gallery, who were wearing shirts with her picture on them.
The court heard family members are expected to travel from New Zealand to attend his sentencing hearing.