Adelaide father pleads guilty to daughter's stabbing murder near family home
An Adelaide man has pleaded guilty to the murder of his daughter less than a month after her body was found in a car near the family home.
Petrit Lekaj appeared by video link in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday and admitted killing Sabrina Lekaj.
The 20-year-old was found dead in a car near the family’s suburban Kidman Park property.
Her father was found next to her in the car with a serious abdominal injury and was treated in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The 49-year-old was later remanded in custody and was being held in James Nash House, Adelaide’s secure mental health facility.
In court on Monday, defence council Ben Sale said the guilty plea was entered after “a lot of consideration”.
Prosecutors asked for a 12-week adjournment in the case to allow time for toxicology and post-mortem reports to be finalised.
Lekaj, 49, was remanded in ongoing custody and will next appear in the Supreme Court on November 25.
His early guilty plea means he will be entitled to a substantial discount on his jail term.
Murder convictions in South Australia carry a mandatory head sentence of life in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.
At Sabrina's funeral earlier this month, the university student was remembered as a "loving and caring" young woman.
"She was very sweet," her younger brother, Pyrrhus Lekaj, told hundreds of mourners.
"She was very loving and caring in everything that she did and I will not forget her."
Her mother Romina told the service she wanted to remember all the good days.
“There will never be a goodbye. There will be only until we meet again my darling daughter. I’ll always carry you in my heart," she said.
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