THEY were once charged with murder over the mysterious death of New Zealand firefighter and helicopter pilot Ian Pullen, his body found by the side of the road outside Singleton in 2018.
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But on Friday in Newcastle District Court, Joshua Knight and Nicole Mason - the man who hit Mr Pullen with his car and the woman who helped cover it up - pleaded guilty to far less serious charges.
The Newcastle Herald revealed last year that prosecutors had dropped the murder charges against the pair after an autopsy revealed the 43-year-old firefighter would have died from the initial hit-and-run.
Mr Pullen was found dead by the side of Carrington Street at Glenridding about 5.30am on September 29, 2018.
The 43-year-old had days earlier arrived in the Hunter Valley to assist the NSW Rural Fire Service prepare for the upcoming bushfire season.
Initially treated as a hit-and-run, the mystery prompted a two-year investigation involving multiple appeals for information and a $350,000 reward.
In October 2020, after receiving an anonymous tip-off, Strike Force Awabakil detectives arrested and charged Knight and Mason with Mr Pullen's murder.
Police said Knight had been driving a white Toyota HiLux utility that struck Mr Pullen in the early hours of the morning before leaving the scene.
Detectives at that time claimed the vehicle returned a short time later and Mason got out and "finished the job", striking Mr Pullen in the head with an object.
But as the matter dragged through the courts, Mr Pullen's cause of death became an issue for the DPP with a forensic pathologist opining Mr Pullen would have died within about half an hour of the initial impact of the car, regardless of whether he received medical attention.
Knight and Mason, who had pleaded not guilty and had been expected to face a trial over Mr Pullen's death, were re-arraigned in Newcastle District Court on Friday.
Knight pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to stop and assist after a vehicle impact causing death.
While Mason, who had been charged with attempted murder, the DPP claiming she had the intent to kill Mr Pullen despite the injuries that would have already claimed his life, instead pleaded guilty to a charge of concealing a serious indictable offence.
The guilty pleas came after weeks of negotiations between lawyers for the pair and the DPP as part of the NSW District Court's super callover, a process where unresolved matters are funnelled into a list and negotiations are encouraged to reduce the backlog.
The pair will be sentenced in June.
Two other women, also charged with concealing the hit-and-run, have pleaded not guilty and will next appear in court in June.
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