Elderly man pleads guilty to rape and murder of six-year-old Kylie Maybury in 1984
A man has pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of six- year-old Melbourne girl Kylie Maybury in 1984.
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Kylie was found dead in a Preston gutter the day after her disappearance in 1984.
She had been walking along Plenty Road. on her way to buy her mother some sugar from a nearby milk bar on Melbourne Cup Day when she vanished.
Gregory Keith Davies, 73, entered a plea of guilty to her rape and murder on the first day of his pre-trial committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today.
Davies, was arrested at a home in Waterford Park last year in a major cold case breakthrough. He had been living with his elderly wife at the time.
Anonymous callers to police were also sought over vital information, as well as a witness who saw a white Holden Kingswood station wagon with the young girl inside.
Police said Davies imprisoned and raped the six-year-old on November 6 and murdered her on November 7.
Kylie’s mother Julie Maybury was in court for the committal and shed tears at the guilty plea.
"We can all live our lives again," an emotional Ms Maybury said outside court.
"It's been 33 years and he's put me through hell. I've lost a lot of things in my life. I'm so totally over the moon that he (pleaded guilty). It just makes life so much easier."
Kylie Maybury, 6, was on her way to buy sugar for her mum in Preston in 1984 and never returned. (Supplied)
Ms Maybury said she "felt numb inside", but the finding brought relief for the family.
"The dark is nearly over," she said.
Magistrate Duncan Reynolds remanded Davies in custody for a directions hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
THE KYLIE MAYBURY MURDER INVESTIGATION
* November 6, 1984 - Kylie and her mum visit their neighbour Lorna Simpson on Melbourne Cup day and Kylie is sent to a nearby shop to buy sugar.
Kylie leaves the shop with the sugar but never makes it home. The alarm is raised and a search ensues.
* November 7, 1984 - Police find the little girl's body dumped in a gutter in Preston in the early hours of the morning.
* Late November, 1984 - An anonymous caller tells police a white Holden Kingswood station wagon was involved in Kylie's death.
* 1985 - Police announce a $50,000 reward for information. It's later increased to $1 million.
* May 1997 - A second anonymous caller nominates a person of interest, police say, without disclosing the name.
* February 2001 - Convicted child killer Robert Lowe, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of another six-year-old, is DNA tested but cleared as the prime suspect in Kylie's murder.
* June 2016 - Gregory Keith Davies, 73, is arrested at his Waterford Park home and charged with the rape and murder of Kylie.
* May 29, 2017 - Davies pleads guilty to both charges. Another charge was withdrawn by prosecutors.
