Jeremy Garvey - who murdered a small-time drug dealer during a home invasion at Whitebridge - has also pleaded guilty to causing a crash that killed a pregnant woman at Charlestown in 2018. About three months before he climbed through an open window into Philip Steele's home and repeatedly slashed the 60-year-old with a machete, Garvey was behind the wheel of a stolen car that raced through a red light on the Pacific Highway at Charlestown and crashed into a service station, killing one of his passengers, a 32-year-old pregnant woman.
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CCTV from the service station shows Garvey was doing more than 45km/h over the speed limit, the stolen Subaru WRX leaving a trail of sparks in its wake as it became airborne, crashed into signage and spun out of control.
Garvey - who was disqualified from driving and under the influence of methylamphetamine and amphetamine at the time of the high-speed crash - suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital.
He was still recovering at John Hunter Hospital when his 32-year-old female passenger succumbed to her injuries on October 12, 2018.
But a number of factors, including the fact crash investigators were forced to wait for DNA testing to confirm Garvey was the driver, meant Garvey was able to discharge himself from hospital and was on the run from police on the night of the home invasion that ended in Mr Steele's death.
Garvey, now 26, had initially pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and a number of serious driving offences over the crash.
But on Wednesday, during the super callover in Newcastle District Court, he was re-arraigned and pleaded guilty to aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death.
The DPP agreed to withdraw the manslaughter charge as part of the super callover negotiations and he will be sentenced in Newcastle District Court in August.
Garvey has pleaded guilty to murder over the stabbing death of Mr Steele, but is yet to be sentenced.
He was the first of three men to climb into the home in the early hours of December 17, 2018, and pulled out a machete before he was confronted inside the house by Mr Steele.
Mr Steele, who 12 hours earlier had been robbed by Garvey posing as a police officer, was slashed numerous times with the machete and hit with a baseball bat.
Garvey will next appear in Newcastle Supreme Court on April 30 to get a sentence date. Luke Jones was earlier this year found guilty of murder after a trial in Newcastle Supreme Court, while a third man, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for a maximum of 15 years.
