The only son of a Melbourne man murdered by the woman his father once planned to marry has confronted the killer in court, saying her actions will haunt her to her grave.
Ex-stripper Robyn Jane Lindholm, 42, pleaded guilty to murdering gym owner Wayne Amey, 54, who was last seen alive on December 10, 2013, a week before his body was discovered in central Victoria.
Mr Amey had been beaten and stabbed four times by Torsten Trabert, 46, and John Anthony Ryan, 38, who were contracted by Lindholm to carry out the killing.
The two men pleaded not guilty to the crime but were found guilty of murder by a Supreme Court jury.
In court on Wednesday, Patrick Amey told Lindholm she was the only member of the murderous trio who knew the man his father was.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"He put so much effort into your life and yet you took his," Patrick Amey said in the Victorian Supreme Court.
"I know that will haunt you to your grave."
Patrick Amey said he had lost his mentor and best friend.
"I feel alone in this world without Dad," he said.
He spoke of the special bond they had shared since he was small, and of the desolation he felt knowing his father would never live to see his grandchildren.
"I will carry this scar for the rest of my life," Mr Amey said.
John Kelly, for Lindholm, said his client had met Mr Amey in 2003 when he attended a business lunch at a venue where she was working as a stripper.
The became friends and their relationship developed into something more serious in 2005.
They bought a farm together and in March 2011 Mr Amey proposed and bought Lindholm a Harley Davidson motorbike for her birthday, Mr Kelly said.
By September the relationship had soured, and the following year Mr Amey took out an intervention order to prevent Lindholm from living at the farm with her new boyfriend.
She started living out of her car, then found herself in an apartment in Preston where she met Trabert, who was addicted to ice and soon became infatuated with her.
Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert said Lindholm was the only person with a relationship with Mr Amey and had contracted the others to kill him.
"The others barely know him," Mr Silbert said.
The court heard Trabert believed himself to be in love to Lindholm.
Justice Lex Lasry will sentence the trio at a later date.
