A man has admitted murdering Zoe Buttigieg, the 11-year-old girl found dead in her Wangaratta home.
In the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Friday, Bowe Maddigan, 30, pleaded guilty to one charge of murder and one of committing an indecent act with a child under 16.
More News Videos
- Video duration
- 00:25
Guilty plea for murder of 11-year-old
- Video duration
- 01:25
Animation: How continuous flow intersections work
- Video duration
- 00:22
Witness appeal after Ferntree Gully crash
- Video duration
- 00:34
CFA board backs Andrews' wage deal
- Video duration
- 01:24
Protesters served with eviction notices
- Video duration
- 00:59
Denis Ryan- the moral cop
- Video duration
- 01:41
Manhunt leads to arrest
- Video duration
- 01:17
Unsuccessful robbery in St Albans
Guilty plea for murder of 11-year-old
Melbourne man Bowe Maddigan has pleaded guilty to the murder of 11-year-old schoolgirl Zoe Buttigieg. Vision courtesy Ten News
Zoe was found dead in her bed by her mother in her Inchbold Street home on the morning of October 25 last year, in the hours after a party at the house had finished.
Maddigan had attended the party and smoked bongs with Zoe's mother, Janelle Saunders, in the hours before the girl's death, a previous court heard.
Ms Saunders later told police that Maddigan had been the life of the party.
Maddigan was found by police walking barefoot along the Hume Freeway about 6.30am on October 25, appearing dazed and unsteady on his feet.
He was arrested and admitted to Wangaratta Hospital's psychiatric ward as an involuntary patient, where police observed him switch between laughing and crying.
Maddigan had previously claimed he was mentally impaired at the time of Zoe's death.
He had pleaded not guilty to murder at the end of a committal hearing this year.
On Friday, he fronted court in a white business shirt and black pants and was clean shaven with his hair pulled back.
Maddigan, formerly of Mildura, was remanded to appear in court in Wangaratta for a pre-sentence hearing on November 11.