Man pleads guilty to culpable driving in death of Melbourne model Elise Hodder

The impaired driver who fatally struck model Elise Hodder at a party in Melbourne’s east last year has finally admitted to the most serious charges over her death 280 days ago.

The impaired driver who fatally struck model Elise Hodder at a party in Melbourne’s east last year has finally admitted to the most serious charges over her death 280 days ago.

Connor Mathiasson, 24, this month changed his plea to guilty on the most serious charges he is facing - culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury - meaning he could be locked up for decades.

Elise Hodder was killed when she was struck by a car in Kooyong. Picture: Facebook

The decision means there won’t be a drawn out court process and has brought some “relief” to Elise’s “heartbroken” family and friends.

“We were relieved with the change of plea,” her father Michael Hodder exclusively told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“Relief for our family and also Elise’s friend, Emma, who was also a victim. But we are still heartbroken.”

Mr Hodder said the family was “determined to not let this individual destroy us, and Elise’s friends.”

“We are hollow and sad. We are OK, but that is different from most others’ OK.”

Elise Hodder’s parents say their daughter’s death has left them ‘sad and hollow’. Picture: Mark Stewart

Mathiasson had originally only admitted guilt to the less serious charges of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing serious injury.

He pleaded not guilty to culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury.

The serious injury charges were laid in relation to the other woman struck prior to Ms Hodder, her friend Emma Swords.

Culpable driving causing death carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ jail, while dangerous driving causing death carries 10 years’ jail.

A grief-stricken Mr Hodder said there was not enough support in the system for the families of victims – who are also victims.

“We are in a system where there are no democratic rights for all victims,” he said.

“The offender who killed Elise even gets his car back…

“Bail is the major issue many would see, but it is the whole justice system that is the problem.”

Elise Hodder’s parents say there has been ‘no empathy at all’ throughout the court process. Picture: Facebook

He was also upset about the lack of empathy shown at the formal plea hearing.

“Not at any stage did the judicial registrar or the defence even mention our daughter or us during the plea,” he said. “No empathy at all.”

Mathiasson’s decision to change his plea comes despite a series of mitigating factors presented in his defence at his bail hearing.

The court heard Mathiasson had developed a cannabis addiction as a result of his mother’s death when he was a teenager, and would self-medicate due to his “significant and unresolved” mental health issues.

Connor Mathiasson, 23, has pleaded guilty to culpable driving over the death Ms Hodder. Picture: Supplied

Police found Mathiasson was unlicensed, drunk and under the influence of cannabis when he jumped behind the wheel of his Holden Commodore as police arrived to break up the party in Kooyong about 1.10am on 13 October.

He then hit Ms Hodder, 24, as he accelerated out of the carpark of the Malvern City Football Club, before her body was dragged under his car.

Mathiasson also struck another young woman, Emma Swords, who suffered lower body injuries that required a long hospital stay, leading to the serious injury charges against him.

It is understood Ms Hodder and Mathiasson were both attendees at the party but did not know each other.

Elise Hodder was a model and lifeguard. Picture: Facebook

Ms Hodder, a model and lifeguard, had only days before her death celebrated her debut in a New York fashion magazine.

Her mother Pauline told the Herald Sun last year it was shattering that her daughter’s career was taken from her prematurely.

“She was just on the cusp, her modelling career was just starting,” she said. “We don’t know where her life would have headed. She was really happy then, but who was she going to be when she was older and grown up?”

Mr Mathiasson will next face the County Court on 24 October.

Originally published as Man pleads guilty to culpable driving in death of Melbourne model Elise Hodder