Trial told man 'behaved like he had killed'

Last updated at 9:27 GMT, Wednesday, 26 May 2010 10:27 UK

A jury has been urged to convict a man of murdering a woman whose head was found near a city path because "only a murderer would behave" the way he did.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice asked jurors to "look at the bigger picture" in the case to find Alan Cameron, 56, guilty of killing Heather Stacey, 44.

Mr Cameron denies murdering Ms Stacey at her Edinburgh flat in 2007.

He has admitted hiding her body in her flat in Granton for more than a year, dismembering and dumping her remains.

Summing up the case for the Crown, Mr Prentice told jurors they had heard a "gruesome" case involving the "undignified and awful" treatment of another human being.

Buying chips

Speaking after five days of evidence at the High Court in Livingston, he questioned Mr Cameron's position that he found Ms Stacey dead in her bed when he returned from buying her chips.

Mr Prentice told the jury: "Who else but a murderer would behave in the way Alan Cameron did? Who else but a murderer would take steps to prevent the discovery of the body?

"Who else but a murderer would live with that dead body?

"Who else but a murderer would cut into the body with a view to dismembering the body? Who else but a murderer would keep the body for a year or so?

"Who else but a murderer would take apart and distribute parts of that body around Granton and Newhaven in Edinburgh?"

Mr Prentice described as "chilling" and "apt" one witness's assertion that Ms Stacey told her she "always ended up with the wrong guy" and would be fine if she could "keep away from creepy guys".

'Bigger picture'

Urging jurors to find Mr Cameron guilty of murder, he told them: "I ask you to look at the bigger picture. Look at the overall conduct of the accused and ask yourselves: Who else but a murderer would behave and act in the way Alan Cameron did?"

Earlier the court heard that Mr Cameron said he was worried that if he reported Ms Stacey's death he would be picked up as well and that nobody would believe how Ms Stacey died.

Solicitor-advocate John Scott, defending, said the evidence "was simply not there" to convict Cameron of Ms Stacey's murder.

He said: "Exactly how the relationship was between Alan Cameron and Heather Stacey will never truly be known.

"We know that one of them was an alcoholic, the other a fantasist and a liar.

"There is no evidence of an assault, never mind a murder.

"We are left with behaviour that is strange and gruesome on the other charges, as he has proved himself capable of attempted dismemberment on a women he loved.

"Saying she is murdered is mere speculation.

"Suspicion is nowhere near enough."

The trial before Judge Lord Matthews continues.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/edinburgh_east_and_fife/10153194.stm