James Dobbie: Serial rapist admits to cold-case murder

Melbourne man James Dobbie has admitted to the cold-case murder of Rodney Mitchell in 1983, as well as sexually assaulting a number of random women at the same location.

The now-65-year-old was on the run for 35 years before he was arrested in New South Wales in 2018.

In May 1983, Mr Mitchell was with a woman parked in a vehicle at the police paddocks in Rowville, a secluded area known as a lovers’ lane.

Dobbie ambushed the couple wearing a balaclava and carrying a sawn-off shotgun.

Mr Mitchell lurched at him and tried to grab the gun, but Dobbie overpowered him and shot the 37-year-old father twice in the chest, killing him instantly.

The woman managed to escape by jumping out of the moving car. Mitchell’s car was later found dumped at Caulfield Station.

Dobbie also pleaded guilty to raping two other women at the police paddocks in similar circumstances where he tied up their boyfriends and made them watch the assaults.

Detectives offered a $500,000 reward for information in 2013.

Five years later someone made an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers.

Dobbie then confessed to his daughter and handed himself into police.

The only explanation he could give for his crimes during the pre-sentence hearing today was that he was on drugs at the time and he had no friends.

Dobbie shut his eyes as Supreme Court Justice John Champion told him his offending contained a high amount of horror, humiliation and violence.

The grandfather is now facing life behind bars.