Rushed by a hammer-wielding man as he left his apartment building in Melbourne, Australia with his dog, Nicholas Cameron “fought for his life.”
When police arrived just six minutes later they found the 39-year-old fatally injured between two cars and arrested his attacker, Stuart Lindsay Heron, who was trying to leave the scene.
Heron claimed he had spent hours waiting to confront Cameron, a man he did not know, after seeing him “dealing ice to kids.”
But two folders, one titled “target” and the other “Heide,” would identify the real reason he was murdered.
Heron, 50, returned before the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday for a presentence hearing after pleading guilty to Mr Cameron’s July 10, 2021, murder earlier this year.
Outlining the case, crown prosecutor Elizabeth Ruddle KC told the court Heron had been enlisted by his dominatrix, Heide Bos, to “confront” her boyfriend – Mr. Cameron.
Ruddle said Bos and Heron had met on FetLife, a social networking site for people exploring sexual kinks, just two months earlier.
Bos went by the name “hedonistic siren” and Heron, who went by the name “slave pinto,” had quickly embarked on a dominant/submissive relationship.
Heron became her slave, telling Bos; “I will be your slave for life m’lady,” when she began to confide in him her dislike of Cameron.
She would later tell police; “They’re beneath you and (their), like, happiness is your happiness, so anything they can do to make your life more simple, easy, whatever.”
On or about June 31, the pair were at Bos’s apartment when she asked him if it was possible to confront Cameron and make him leave town.
“I’m 99.9 percent sure I can convince him to never to contact or speak to you again m‘lady lol,” Heron replied.
Over the following days, he stalked Cameron at his home and online, with police finding blueprints for his apartment and pictures in a folder titled “target” on his phone.
In a separate folder titled “Heide” were screenshots of their conversations.
Ruddle told the court on July 9 Bos gave Heron the “go-ahead” after an argument with Cameron.
She texted Cameron asking him to come over while simultaneously telling Heron; “I wish I could come and watch”.
As Cameron left his apartment with his dog, Misty, shortly after midnight on July 10, he was rushed by Heron.
“There was an agreement between Heron and Bos that he would confront and assault Cameron in some sort of ill-conceived plan to get him to go away and stay away,” Ruddle said.
“But at some point, immediately before or during the confrontation, that plan went awry.”
Ruddle told the court the injuries sustained by Cameron, which included 14 separate skull fractures, were “among the most confronting” she had ever seen.
“He goes to that scene to assault, he’s armed and he takes him by surprise,” she said.
“Mr Cameron fought for his life … what he did that day, in the car park, is inexplicable.”
Heron’s barrister Richard Backwell told the court his client had lived a “normal life” until he met Bos.
“There’s really nothing, apart from when he gets involved with Bos, that indicates that he’d end up sitting where he’s sitting,” he said.
“He planned a confrontation slash assault and brought weapons with him … There‘s no doubt this is a serious example of murder, given the number of blows to the head and stab wounds.”
Blackwell told the court his client, a former diesel mechanic, had described what happened as the “worst decision” of his life.
Heron was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Heide Bos, who was initially also charged with murder, was jailed for six years in February after pleading guilty to manslaughter over her role in Cameron’s death after prosecutors accepted she did not know he was going to be killed.
