Man pleads guilty to manslaughter after violent altercation at a Sydney hotel
A violent altercation that led to the death of a man at a Sydney CBD hotel complex, has taken another turn after the man charged with murder made an 11th hour admission to his role in the death.
Connor Godfrey is accused of killing 43-year-old Giuseppe Pagano at the Oaks Hotel on Castlereagh St at Haymarket on Easter Sunday 2021.
Pagano was found dead in the hallway of the hotel in the early hours of the morning.
The 22-year-old Godfrey appeared in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday where he was set to be arraigned.
Godfrey faced the court for just one day before the jury was discharged. Initially, he had claimed self-defence, but while facing court via audio-visual link wearing his prison greens, the Crown prosecutor said they would be accepting a plea of manslaughter.
Justice Helen Wilson accepted the lesser charged and adjourned the matter to July 14.
Wilson said to the court: “Connor Godfrey you stand charged by that name... on 4 April 2021 at Haymarket that you did unlawfully kill Giuseppe Pagano.”
“Guilty, your honour,” Godfrey said.
Godfrey has been on remand since he was arrested.
Jonathan Jackson, 11th July 2023
