MAN PLEADS TO COAST MURDERS
13.08.1985




Man pleads guilty to two Coast murders A GOLD Coast man yesterday pleaded guilty to the murders last year of sex-shop owner Kevin Mannix and call-girl Lovina Cunningham.
Craig Andrew McConnell, 20, printer, of Paradise Waters, will be sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday.
The only sentence allowable under law is life imprisonment.
Another man, Nicholas Koutras, 21, a hotel employee, of Moana Park, yesterday pleaded guilty to having unlawfully killed Mannix. He, too, will be sentenced on Thursday.
Three men have now appeared before the Supreme Court and have pleaded guilty to charges over the death of Kevin Mannix, who operated a Tweed Heads sex shop.
Several courts have been told that Mannix's son, Barry, had initially confessed to having murdered his father.
Barry Mannix, 19, was committed for trial on a charge of having murdered his father but the charge was dropped after other men were charged.
McConnell pleaded guilty before Mr Justice Dowsett to the murder of Kevin Mannix on June 22 last year and guilty to the murder of Cunningham on August 24.
Koutras had voluntarily flown from Greece to be interviewed by detectives about Mannix's death.
Mannix, 40, was found dead at his Palm Beach unit. He had been stabbed in the chest and his throat was cut.
Lovina Cunningham, 45, worked as a prostitute under the name Angie.
She was stabbed and her throat was cut at her Surfers Paradise unit.
Ten days ago, Anthony Michael Duncan Rau, 23, unemployed, of Helensvale, pleaded guilty to having unlawfully killed Mannix and guilty to having unlawfully killed Cunningham. He was jailed for six years on each charge, to be served cumulatively.
At Rau's sentencing, the court was told that Rau was initially questioned about the theft of motor vehicles and he told his solicitor that he knew where Kevin Mannix's missing vehicle was hidden.
Rau later volunteered full details of both killings. Mr Justice de Jersey, who sentenced Rau, said he took into consideration Rau's contribution to freeing Barry Mannix, who had then been awaiting trial over his father's death.
A fourth man, Nigel Phillip Vincent Andrews, 25, a panel beater, of Sorrento, will be charged with the murders of Mannix and Cunningham when he appears in court on Friday