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This Is What We Know About Stephanie Scott's Killer So Far

Vincent Stanford is due to be sentenced on Thursday.
Stephanie Scott was murdered days before her wedding in 2015.
Fairfax: Facebook
Stephanie Scott was murdered days before her wedding in 2015.

The man who has confessed to raping and bashing NSW school teacher Stephanie Scott six days before her wedding has come face-to-face with her family and friends this week.

Vincent Stanford, who was a cleaner at the school where Scott worked, attended a special sitting at the NSW Supreme Court in Griffith on Tuesday as he awaits sentencing.

Stanford has pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of Scott, 26, at Leeton High School in the NSW Riverina on Easter Sunday in 2015. He is expected to be sentenced on Thursday.

His twin brother, Marcus Stanford, was sentenced in August to one year and three months' jail time after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder.

On Tuesday, the court heard Vincent Stanford sent Scott's engagement and graduation rings to Marcus in South Australia following the murder.

But that was just one of the many details recounted in the courtroom. So here is what we know about Vincent Stanford's account of the murder.

Vincent Stanford is taken by police from the Griffith courthouse on Tuesday.
Fairfax: Peter Rae
Vincent Stanford is taken by police from the Griffith courthouse on Tuesday.

The Confession To Police

A video tape of Vincent Stanford's confession to police was played to the courtroom on Tuesday, where Stanford said he was "pretty emotionless" during the murder.

"I had to kill her. I was not angry or anything, I was pretty emotionless, I just thought I had to kill her... I think I have mental problems, I didn't feel angry, I just wanted to kill," Vincent said in the recording.

"I think I needed to see a psychiatrist but I didn't."

Scott had gone to the school on Easter Sunday morning to prepare lessons for a relief teacher ahead of her honeymoon and when she went to leave, wished Stanford a 'Happy Easter' before he attacked.

Stanford told detectives he "went a little nuts" and "beat her to death" at the high school, striking the 26-year-old "30 to 40 times" and stabbing her in the "carotid artery" in her neck.

The school cleaner, now 25, told detectives he dragged Scott, struggling, into a storeroom before beating her.

Stanford said that after killing Scott he went home to have a coffee and cheese sandwich for lunch before returning to remove her body from the storeroom.

Hiding The Body

After eating at home, Stanford said he put Scott's body in the boot of his car and cleaned the storeroom for several hours.

The school cleaner then drove Scott's body to Cocoparra National Park on Monday morning and set her body on fire.

Two days later Stanford was arrested by police following a search of his home where Scott's red bra and a set of school keys -- given to Scott by another teacher -- were found. Two photos of a burnt body were also found on Stanford's phone which he claimed at the time were downloaded from a horror film.

During the confession, Stanford told detectives he didn't know why he kept the bra.

"Maybe I wanted a souvenir," he said.

Aaron Leeson-Woolley, who was Scott's fiance, arriving at Griffith Court.
Fairfax: Anthony Stipo
Aaron Leeson-Woolley, who was Scott's fiance, arriving at Griffith Court.

Internet Search Histories

Details about Stanford's phone and computer searches were revealed in court on Tuesday, which included "bride rape" and "bride killing". These searches were made two months before Stanford murdered Scott.

An agreed statement of facts tendered to court said other searches conducted were "in relation to necrophilia and 'necro rape'."

The court heard on the day before Scott's death, Stanford made a number of internet searches including "serial killer knives, widow knives and sharpest puncture knives".

Earlier Signs Of Odd Behaviour

Stanford's mental health was assessed twice, with both assessments diagnosing him with autism spectrum disorder.

The 25-year-old told one psychologist, Anna Robilliard, that he attacked a teacher when he was 12 years old -- choking her -- which left him in a mental health unit for several months.

Stanford told Robilliard "he had thoughts of killing someone from the time he was seven or eight years old and when he saw Ms Scott he had to kill her".

Justice Robert Allan Hulme is expected to deliver Stanford's sentence on Thursday.

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