A convicted rapist has been found not guilty of murdering missing West Australian teenager Hayley Dodd, but guilty of manslaughter after a second trial.
Francis Wark was acquitted of murdering the 17-year-old by a Supreme Court jury today after his conviction was overturned in February last year.
Gasps filled the courtroom when he was instead found guilty of manslaughter.
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Ms Dodd was last seen alive hitchhiking along a remote red dirt road near a property owned by Wark near the rural area of Badgingarra, in the Wheatbelt region, on July 29, 1999.
Her body was never found.
https://twitter.com/tegansapwell9/status/1377124790016778249Some of Ms Dodd's family members left the court room in tears when the decision was handed down.
Wark has been remanded in custody until he is sentenced in two weeks.
