An investment banker Thursday said he was "profoundly sorry" after pleading guilty to attaching a fake bomb around an Australian schoolgirl's neck in a bid to extort money from her wealthy family.
Paul Peters, who was arrested and extradited from the United States in September with the help of the FBI, admitted aggravated breaking and entering and detaining the teenager for advantage.
The incident on August 3 last year created global headlines when a masked man broke into the multi-million-dollar home of 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver and fitted a fake bomb to her neck.
Police, bomb squad and other emergency services descended on the scene and Pulver endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal with experts working into the night to remove the device, only later establishing it was an elaborate hoax.
Father-of-three Peters appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court on a video screen from a local prison and expressed no emotion when his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf, reports said.
Outside court, his lawyer Kathy Crittenden said Peters was "profoundly sorry" to the Pulver family. He will be sentenced later this month but has so far remained silent on why he targeted them.
A former executive at a collapsed financial firm, Peters reportedly had indirect links to the Pulver family but was not an acquaintance.
The Pulvers attended the hearing and Madeleine's father Bill said it brought an element of closure for the family.
"We are incredibly pleased with today's outcome. It is great comfort knowing Maddie won't have to endure the stress and anxiety of reliving the events of that terrible night," he told reporters outside the court.
"Today's guilty plea brings closure to a crime that remains a mystery and as random to us in our minds as it did back on August 3."
Court documents showed that Peters entered the home through the unlocked front door, carrying a baseball bat and a small backpack, and cornered Pulver in her bedroom as she was studying for school exams.
He took a black box from the backpack and pushed it against her throat, securing it around her neck with a bicycle lock, Australian Associated Press reported.
A typed email address was affixed to the box, as well as a USB stick and a plastic sleeve with documents inside.
He then left, telling her to count to 200, and she alerted her parents on her mobile phone. The letter said the case was booby-trapped and could only be opened safely if they complied with his terms and conditions.
"For the avoidance of any doubt, I am a former special forces green beret munitions specialist and have constructed such devices for over 20 years," the letter reportedly stated.
"SO, ACT NOW, THINK LATER, or YOU will inadvertently trigger a tragically avoidable explosion ..."
It added that his demands for money would be forwarded later.
Police tracked Peters down through his email account after he fled to Kentucky where his ex-wife lived.