Hunted down by a man brandishing a hammer as he left his apartment building 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 assailant, Stuart Lindsay Heron, who was attempting to leave the scene.
Heron claimed he had waited hours to confront Mr Cameron, a man he did not know, after seeing him ‘dealing ice cream to children’.
But two folders, one titled “target” and the other “Heide,” would identify the real reason for his murder.
Heron, 50, returned to the Victorian High Court on Monday for a hearing after pleading guilty to the July 10, 2021 murder of Mr Cameron earlier this year.
Crown Prosecutor Elizabeth Ruddle KC, who outlined the case, told the court that Heron had been called in by his dominatrix, Heide Bos, to ‘confront’ her boyfriend, Mr Cameron.
When police arrived just six minutes later, they found the 39-year-old fatally injured between two cars and arrested his assailant, Stuart Lindsay Heron (pictured), who was attempting to leave the scene.
Ms Ruddle said Bos and Heron had met just two months earlier on FetLife, a social networking site for people exploring sexual kinks.
Bos went by the name ‘hedonistic siren’ and Heron, who went by the name ‘slave pinto’, soon started a dominant/submissive relationship.
Heron became her slave and told Bos; “I’ll be your slave for life m’lady,” when she began to confide in him her distaste for Mr. Cameron.
She would later tell the police; “They are below you and (their) happiness is your happiness, so anything they can do to make your life simpler, easier, whatever.”
On or about June 31, the couple were at Ms Bos’s apartment when she asked him if it was possible to confront Mr Cameron and get him out of town.
“I’m 99.9 percent sure I can convince him never to contact or speak to you again m’lady lol,” Heron replied.
The court was told that Heide Victoria Bos (pictured) had a ‘mixed’ relationship with Mr Cameron
Over the next few days, he stalked Mr Cameron at his home and online, with police finding blueprints for his apartment and photos in a folder titled ‘target’ on his phone.
Screenshots of their conversations were contained in a separate folder titled “Heide.”
Ms Ruddle told the court on July 9 that Bos had given Heron the ‘go-ahead’ after an argument with Mr Cameron.
She texted Mr. Cameron asking to come over while saying it to Heron at the same time; “I wish I could come and see.”
When Mr. Cameron left his apartment shortly after midnight on July 10 with his dog, Misty, he was hunted by Heron.
“There was an agreement between Mr. Heron and Ms. Bos that he would confront and attack Mr. Cameron with an ill-conceived plan to get him out and leave him out,” Ms Ruddle said.
“But at some point, just before or during the confrontation, that plan went wrong.”
Despite emergency services efforts, Nicholas Cameron was pronounced dead at the scene
Victoria Heide Bos was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to manslaughter for her role in the death
Ms Ruddle told the court that Mr Cameron’s injuries, which included 14 separate skull fractures, were “among the most confronting” she had ever seen.
“He goes to that scene to attack, he’s armed and surprises him,” she said.
“Mr. Cameron was fighting for his life… what he did that day, in the parking lot, is inexplicable.”
Heron’s lawyer Richard Backwell told the court that his client had led a “normal life” until he met Bos.
“There’s really nothing, except when he gets involved with Ms. Bos, that indicates he would end up where he is,” he said.
“He planned a confrontational attack and took weapons… There is no doubt that this is a serious example of murder, given the number of blows to the head and stab wounds.”
Mr Blackwell told the court his client, a former diesel mechanic, described what happened as the ‘worst decision’ of his life.
Heron has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Heide Bos, who was also initially charged with murder, was sentenced to six years in prison in February after pleading guilty to manslaughter for her role in Mr Cameron’s death after prosecutors admitted she was unaware he was going to be killed .