Parents haunted by ‘violent, cruel’ final hours of daughter’s life

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Pauline Hodder vividly remembers driving her 24-year-old daughter, Elise Hodder, to her best friend’s house last October. During the drive, Elise turned to her mother and said: “You’re a special woman, Mum, I love you”.

“I had no idea this was the last time I would ever see my daughter alive.”

Michael and Pauline Hodder have spoken in court about the impact their daughter’s death has had on them.

Just hours later, Elise was killed by a drunk driver soon after she arrived at a park rave with her friends in Kooyong, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, on October 14, 2024.

Connor Mathiasson, 23, was high and drunk when he got behind the wheel of his Holden Commodore and attempted to leave the Kooyong car park after attending the rave.

He rammed the car into Elise’s best friend Emma Swords, breaking both of her ankles, before running over Elise, trapping her under the vehicle.

The attending police officer, Senior Constable Brad Clinton, said the way Elise’s body was positioned and the weight of the vehicle on her injuries meant she could not survive.

“I felt all I could do was talk to her … she looked like she was fighting for life,” Clinton said.

Those last hours of her daughter’s life will forever haunt Pauline. “What a violent, cruel ending for my gentle, loving girl.”

Mathiasson pleaded guilty on Friday in the County Court to one charge of culpable driving causing
death and one charge of negligently causing serious injury.

Hodder died from the chest injuries she suffered while being trapped under the car next to Sir Zelman Cowen Park, the court heard. The attending officers chose not to remove her from the car, concluding it would cause more suffering for the young woman.

Elise Hodder with her parents, Michael and Pauline Hodder.

Mathiasson recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.213 per cent and tested positive for cannabis, the court heard. He was arrested at the car park soon after striking Elise and Swords. Witnesses recalled him apologising repeatedly.

Several of Elise’s family and friends read victim impacts statements on Friday during the plea hearing, including her brothers Max and James, parents Michael and Pauline. Swords and her mother also spoke.

They each talked about how special, loved, kind and irreparably missed Elise is. Her sister-in-law loved her fierce principles and kind nature. Her mother remembered her love for the outdoors.

Elise was kind, joyful, passionate, caring. She always stood up to what she believed in. She had a passion for social justice, and dreamed of one day becoming a social or disability worker.

Her father, Michael, was beyond proud of his youngest child, his only daughter. “She was always there for us when he needed her. Elise was an angel and made our lives better, happier and more fulfilled,” he said.

Again and again, the court was told about the incomprehensible loss of their friend, sister, niece and daughter. Her father is haunted by her final hours alive, trapped and terrified. Falling asleep is a near impossible for her brother, James. The grief, said her best friend of two decades, felt like drowning.

“I … collected her belongings from the police; her handbag, phone, damaged bracelets and earrings. They were like her body: broken, scarred and destroyed,” Michael said.

Swords told the court she was terrified to be in the same room as Mathiasson. She fears the long-term effects her injuries will have on her body. But most of all, Swords is devastated and traumatised by the death of her best friend.

“I miss her so much and my heart aches endlessly for her family who lost their daughter and sister,” Swords said.

Swords, who was wheelchair bound for 10 weeks and had to undergo two rounds of reconstructive surgery, was horrified to learn Mathiasson had been granted bail.

“Elise lost her life because of him. I am living in agony because of him,” Swords said.

Friends began shaking their heads as the court heard how much alcohol Mathiasson consumed before he got behind the wheel of his car.

Connor Mathiasson leaves Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in October 2024.

Mathiasson, whose father and brother also attended the hearing, has been out on bail but was remanded in custody on Friday ahead of his sentencing hearing.

He will be sentenced at a later date.