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Ex-footballer admits kill charge

Forensic police at a Mandurah property during the Ilario Maiolo murder probe. Picture: Mogens Johansen/ The West Australian

A former WAFL footballer has made a last minute change of plea and admitted to the killing of a 46-year-old father who was killed while out on his usual morning walk on a Mandurah beach.

Ilario Maiolo, known to friends and family as Larry, was found floating off Halls Head dog beach in May 2013 by a passerby, sparking a murder inquiry.

Police later arrested Daniel Zwerus, a 31-year-old father-of-two who played for Peel Thunder in 2001, at a home on Oaklands Avenue, a short distance from Mr Maiolo’s home and the beach where he was found.

He had been due to go on trial for murder on Monday, but at a directions hearing today, Zwerus changed his plea to guilty.

He will be sentenced next Friday.