Tobias Marcus Nuttall, 32, pleaded guilty in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday over the stabbing death of Alisha Lauren Hendren-Krippner, 30, at a Perth home on August 20. Ms Hendren-Krippner was transferred to Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition with multiple injuries and died the same day.
The case was heard in Bassendean, in Perth's east. Defence lawyer Simon Watters said that after negotiations with prosecutors, it was agreed that "criminal responsibility arises" for Nuttall. Sporting a bushy beard, a cross on a chain around his neck and slicked-back shoulder-length hair, Nuttall appeared via video-link and showed no emotion when he entered his plea.
Nuttall was the co-host of a news review podcast called WakingWorld. Hendren-Krippner was a guest on the podcast weeks before her death and talked to Dale about being a sex worker, while Nuttall sat mostly quiet during the episode. The podcast discussed the occult, magic, spirituality and subjects framed as clandestine.
Weeks before the killing, in an episode published about a month before Nuttall killed Hendren-Krippner he and a British co-host named Dale discuss werewolves and the "deeper meanings behind Christian practice". The episode was reportedly deleted after Nuttall's arrest, though the podcast initially continued.
His case was adjourned to April 13 for mention ahead of his sentence in the WA Supreme Court, at a date to be fixed.