Thursday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest news from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Mildura man to appear in court over murder and rape of Zoe Buttigieg.

Warning: This item deals with rape and may be distressing for some readers.

A 29-year-old Mildura man who was being treated in a psychiatric unit has been charged over the rape and murder of 11-year old Zoe Buttigieg.

The man was arrested on an unrelated charge on Sunday after acting erratically – being picked up about 10 kilometres from her house around 6.30am on Sunday.

He was charged yesterday with one count each of murder, sexual penetration of a child under 16 and committing an indecent act with a child under 16.

Zoe was found dead by her mother in her Inchbold Street home about 11am on Sunday.

It is believed that the man was invited to the home of Zoe Buttigieg for a party on Saturday night but was not a close friend.

The family of the 11-year old have thanked the police and local community for their support and asked for privacy.

“Zoe’s family would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Wangaratta Police, the homicide squad and paramedics who attended the scene,” the family said in a statement.

“Their continuing support during this terrible time in our lives has just been extraordinary.”

“[We] would like to say a huge thank you to those who organised and attended the candlelight vigil at the park that Zoe always enjoyed playing at,”

“We are so very touched and thankful for all the personal messages and tributes and for the concern which has been shown for the wellbeing of the family.”

The man is expected to appear in court today.

2. Police charge “acquaintance” of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson with her murder.

Police have charged a 41-year old man, named by News Limited as Daniel Holdom with the alleged murder of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson.

He has not been charged with the murder of her daughter, Khandalyce whose body was found in a suitcase on the side of a highway in South Australia.

It is reported that he knew Ms Pearce-Stevenson and had last been seen with her in the ACT in December 2008.

Police had been following a trial of fraud committed by a woman and a man who accessed Karlie Pearce-Stevenson’s bank account after her death. The woman at one stage called Pearce-Stevenson’s mother and convinced her to deposit money into the bank.

Ms Pearce-Stevenson took off from the family’s home in a 1996 Commodore station wagon in 2006 after a dispute with her mother Colleen Povey.

He is expected to appear in court today.

For more read this post here. 

3. Gino and Mark Stocco charged with murder.

Father and son fugitive duo Gino and Mark Stocco have been charged with murder after police finally captured the pair at a remote property near Elong Elong, 50 kilometres east from Dubbo.

Hours after the arrest police discovered the “fairly decomposed” body of the 68-year-old manger of the property Rosario Cimone.

The man’s daughter had reported him missing four-weeks ago.

The Stocccos had worked at the property as recently as the long weekend.

Assistant Commissioner Clint Pheeney said when police went to arrest the duo, after a 16-hour stake out they put up some resistance to the arrest.

“They did not surrender to police or hand themselves in,” Mr Pheeney said. He said there were some injuries sustained during the arrest.

The two men who had led police on a chase throughout NSW and Victoria after a shoot out 12 days ago had grown increasingly laid back about hiding, going into a supermarket in one town on Monday and buying cappuccinos in a bakery in another town yesterday.

They will appear in court today.

4. Accused murder of mother-of-two Danielle Miller was fleeing to The Phillipines.

The man arrested and charged over the murder of Brisbane mum, Danielle Miller had booked and paid for a flight to The Phillipines.

Robert Thomas, 49, was arrested yesterday and charged with strangling the 41-year old mother-of-two after an argument. Detectives allege he stole Ms Miller’s credit cards and had bought items after killing her between Thursday and Saturday.

He will appear in court in Brisbane today.

5. Madeleine McCann investigation scaled back to just 4 police officers.

The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been scaled down from 29 officers to just four in a move Kate and Gerry McCann say they understand.

Scotland Yard said overnight “Officers investigating her disappearance have completed the huge task of bringing together and investigating the massive amount of information held by colleagues in Portugal, the United Kingdom investigation and the private investigators working on behalf of the McCann family.”

The McCann family released a statement saying they “fully understand” the reasons why the team is being reduced. “Whilst we do not know what happened to Madeleine, we remain hopeful that she may still be found given the ongoing lines of enquiry.”

6. “Just remember your parents work for mine.”

An elite school has been forced to take disciplinary action against a group of students who posted offensive and inflammatory remarks to students from a public school on a Facebook forum the night before the VCE English exams.

The Herald Sun reports that an 18-year old from Xavier College in Melbourne called students at state schools ‘povo f***s’.

Other comments followed on the Facebook page designed to be a forum to share study notes.

“Just remember your parents work for mine, so don’t go complaining to them” wrote another.

Another comment: “Remember to say ‘hi’ to me when I’m your boss one day.”

A male student also told female student to “let the men handle business”.

“Could all woman (sic) please refrain from expressing there (sic) opinions thank you,” one Xavier student said.

Xavier College Principal told The Herald Sun they are “taking disciplinary action against those concerned”.

The student began the comment posted an apology on the forum.

“It was inappropriate and out of character. I apologise totally for my disgusting comments,” he wrote.

7. Man found guilty of attempted murder of a corpse.

In an unusual case a man has been found guilty of attempting to murder a corpse.

The Age reports that a Supreme Court jury has found Daniel Darrington guilty of the attempted murder, rather than murder of Rocky Matskassy. Darrington’s lawyers agued that he shot Mr Matskassy after a struggle during which he accidentally shot him and so he was already dead when he shot him the second time.

Defence barrister John Desmond argued it could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Matskassy had not died from the first shot writes The Age.

“The issue is not did Darrington believe the man was alive. The issue is was he factually dead,” Mr Desmond told the jury.

“If someone’s already dead and you then try to kill him, how can that be attempted murder?

“But the law in this state is because you have the criminal intent to kill and if you, the accused, thought the person was alive, even if he was in fact dead, the law says that would be attempted murder.

“So just to quickly repeat – if Matskassy dies as a consequence of the first shot, the subsequent deliberate shots into Matskassy are not murder.”

The jury found Darrington not guilty of murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter, but guilty of attempted murder.

The Age reports that after a confrontation Matskassy  and Darrington wrestled while Darrington was holding a gun behind his backhe grabbed the gun and it accidentally discharged.

From The Age:

Darrington told police he thought Mr Matskassy was still alive after being shot in the head as his body was twitching.

Darrington then went to Mr Matskassy’s bedroom and found a small box of ammunition. He re-loaded the pistol and went back to where Mr Matskassy was slouched over in the kitchen and after a few minutes, he shot Mr Matskassy again.

“He said he did this because the deceased was suffering,” the prosecutor said.

“The accused said that after he shot the deceased the second time he covered him up with a sheet because he looked horrible and the accused didn’t want to look at him.”

He will be sentenced at a later date.

8. Call to pay stay-at-home mums superannuation because daycare might be “damaging.”

A lobby group has called for stay-at-home mums to have their superannuation paid by the taxpayer because daycare for young children could be damaging.

The Catholic Women’s League Australia has said “children benefit greatly from having their mothers care for them from at a young age as opposed to relying on daycare to look after them.”

“Children under the age of 4.5 years are not developmentally ready for spending long hours with bigger groups and social company with peers.”

They have called on the Federal Government o fund superannuation for stay-at-home-mums.

The League says that women who work part time should have their super topped up too.

“Even with women who are employed, there are some who work so few hours that they do not earn enough money to reach the income threshold and thus their employers are not required to pay the superannuation levy,’’

“By employing a large number of employees who only work a few hours such employers take advantage of a loophole that saves them thousands of dollars in superannuation payments.”

9. Woman posed as a single father to trick Facebook friend into sex.

In a case strikingly similar to one last month a women, who say she now identifies as male, has pleaded guilty to the sex assault of a female friend who had no idea that at the time the man she was having sex with was a woman.

Kyran Lee, 25, who was formerly known as Fiona Manson, befriended a young woman on Facebook and tricked the woman into a sexual encounter in the dark

Lee wore a “bodysuit” and insisted that the lights were switched off before using a sex toy on her victim reports The Telegraph. 

The case in the UK is now before the court with the prosecutor telling the jury: “The victim was a single parent. Kyran Lee sent her presents including an engagement ring.”

“When they met Kyran Lee wore a puffa jacket and a hat…They spent time together and shared a bed.

“The defendant wore a bodysuit and the lights were off. The offence took place three weeks after they met.

“The defendant gave the victim oral sex. Then with one hand on what she thought to be his [Lee’s] penis he [Lee] penetrated her. He [Lee] used a sex toy .”

He will be sentenced later this year.

10. Is God a woman? This Bishop wants us to consider it.

A British Bishop, Rev Treweek, the first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords has challenged the notion that God is a male.

Speaking to The Observer the feminist Bishop says that she prefers to use the term God rather than he or she

“God is not to be seen as male. God is God,” she said. Right Reverend said she prefers to use the word “God”.

She says the words used in liturgy are “very powerful in shaping people’s views and shaping our culture” but that she knows some may not agree “I am not in the business of wanting to offend anyone but I do want to gently challenge people.”

11. The mother cat who demanded to be reunited with her babies.

A vet clinic in New Zealand has shared a heartwarming story about a mother cat who demanded she be reunited with her kittens.

The clinic said that when they showed up for work at Mill Road Veterinary Clinic in Whangarei, New Zealand they found a box out front filled with four with tiny 3-week old kittens inside.

The staff members decided to care for the kittens themselves. The next morning though a female Tabby was prowling around the front door trying desperately to sneak in each time someone opened the door.

They said, “When we realised it wasn’t going to go away, we picked her up & discovered she was a feeding Mum. 
Then the penny dropped! Sure enough, we introduced her to the “orphan” kittens & there was a very happy reunion! Presumably she had been in the box too & escaped before we arrived for work. She’s probably been prowling around all night looking for her kidnapped kittens!”

Reunited the little family happily went on in the business of being adorable and have now been all adopted by one of the nurses at the clinic.

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au
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