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Armed with a floor plan of his victim’s home and violence on his mind, Stuart Lindsay Heron lay in wait for hours for his unwitting target.
A willing slave in a dominatrix arrangement, Heron told his “lady” he would scare away her boyfriend, Nicholas Cameron, 39, and ensure he never returned.
Stuart Heron outside the Supreme Court on Monday.Credit: AAP
But CCTV footage showed Heron, armed with a knife and a hammer, ran from behind a car park pillar and carried out an 11-minute, ultimately fatal attack on Cameron as he left his Southbank apartment to walk his little white dog, Misty.
Cameron died at the scene. Heron was arrested nearby still carrying the murder weapons, a dog lead, and the keys to his victim’s home, in the early hours of July 9, 2021.
“I pride myself in my service which includes being a personal play toy … amongst other things,” Heron earlier wrote when he met co-offender Heidi Bos on an online website for people interested in BDSM, fetishism and kink.
“I can’t get enough … of being forced to do anything my lady desires.
Heide Bos was in February jailed for manslaughter.
“I will be your slave, my lady, whether you want me or not. I’m here to serve your every command.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard Heron’s brutal attack on a man he’d never met was so severe the victim suffered 14 skull fractures.
Heron, now 50, and Bos had been in constant contact for more two months and devised a plan to help make Cameron, Bos’ then partner, leave town.
In May 2021, Bos told Heron that she was having relationship difficulties and later called Cameron an “ungrateful f—wit”.
Nicholas Cameron died at the attack scene.
In July that year, Heron visited Bos’ apartment and first discussed a plan to get Cameron to leave town and never return.
“Heron said he’d done it before and could be very persuasive,” prosecutor Elizabeth Ruddle said.
Soon Heron began staking out his target’s apartment complex, including remaining outside the Sturt Street address for over seven hours, five days before the murder.
“I just saw the shit c–t bring down Misty for a wee,” he texted Bos the following day.
In the hours before the murder, Heron arrived at the apartment complex about 8.05pm near what he believed was Cameron’s red hire car parked on the street.
When he realised he had the wrong car at 10.37pm, he entered through an open garage door and made his way to the level three car park.
There, he hid behind a pillar before running at Cameron with a knife as the victim his dog shortly after midnight.
After Cameron’s death, the court heard that Bos told police she did not know Heron. But weeks later, police connected the pair through bank records.
An examination of Heron’s mobile phone uncovered two folders titled “Heidi” and “target”.
Inside the “target” folder were internet listings for Cameron’s apartment, a floor plan of his home, photographs of his dog and the code for his lockbox.
“Mr Heron became Ms Bos’ slave,” Ruddle said.
“As her slave, Ms Bos’ unhappiness was Mr Heron’s unhappiness.”
In February, Bos was jailed for six years and three months after pleading guilty to manslaughter over her part in the plan. In March, Heron pleaded guilty to murder.
Heron’s barrister, Richard Backwell, said the former diesel mechanic had led a blameless, crime-free life until the attack.
Justice Michael Croucher said the ill-conceived, premeditated attack was part of a “hare-brained” and “idiotic” plan that appeared to be linked to Heron’s infatuation with Bos.
“It’s strange and surprising the whole thing,” Croucher said.
“[Heron] seems to have been infatuated with Ms Bos. He was lonely, his own relationship had ended.
“He’s in this strange fantasy world, a dominant and subservient relationship, and for whatever reason in that context he agrees to this hare-brained scheme.”
Heron will be sentenced at a later date.
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