The tragic tale of Glenys Heyward

A DISTURBING portrait of a control freak who reacted with murderous rage when defied has emerged during the Glenys Heyward murder trial.

A DISTURBING portrait of a violent control freak who reacted with murderous rage when the subject of his control fought back has emerged during the first week of the Glenys Heyward murder trial.

At the same time, witnesses outlined harrowing tales of Glenys Heyward's attempts to salvage control of her life by escaping her tormentor, de facto partner Neil Heyward.

Ms Heyward's youngest son, Matthew Heyward, 22, and former farmhand Jeremy Adam Minter, 28, are on trial in the Mt Gambier Supreme Court for the murder, on July 23, 2007.

Both sat impassively in the dock as witness after witness described the "very weird person" that was Neil Heyward.

Neil Heyward - who prosecutors say masterminded the plot to murder his estranged partner and carried out the physical act of killing her - committed suicide in his Port Augusta prison cell last year, leaving his youngest son and former worker to face trial.

The jury of seven men and seven women sat on the opposite side of the octagonal courtroom from Matthew Heyward and Minter, both of whom sat silently during the first three days of evidence.

They heard Neil Heyward was a serial wife basher who smirked as he bragged to a neighbour about "tying the old girl to a tree" and giving her a "good going over".

The court also heard that Ms Heyward - who took Neil Heyward's surname despite him never marrying her - refused to go to police or leave her partner because he would kill her if she did.

It was after one of Neil Heyward's "going overs" that a defeated Ms Heyward tried to commit suicide - even then, he would not allow his blackened, barely breathing wife to be taken to hospital.

That was in the early 1980s and Ms Heyward was to endure another two decades of humiliation and abuse before she finally left Neil Heyward in October 2006.

The difference in the personalities of Ms Heyward and Neil Heyward was highlighted by the way they responded to animals.

The court heard Ms Heyward loved animals and was particularly fond of horses. Neil Heyward, on the other hand, was more happy shooting animals than riding them.

Witnesses said Neil Heyward had a strange penchant for naming the animals he shot, such as a horse which he shot for no apparent reason in front of Ms Heyward.

He also slaughtered a puppy that was a gift from a neighbour.

Ms Heyward's brother Richard Childs told the jury his sister changed from a "jovial and friendly" young woman before her relationship with Neil Heyward, to a withdrawn and submissive woman who severed contact with her friends and family for many years.

After leaving Neil Heyward in October 2006, Ms Heyward re-established contact with her family and Mr Childs said "the old Glenys" had returned in the months before her life was taken from her.

Despite breaking the ties and forming a new relationship, Ms Heyward remained fearful for her life, even the day before she was murdered, the court heard.

Mark Ward, a friend of Ms Heyward's new boyfriend Chris Sigston, told the jury Ms Heyward had asked four times for him to "shoot her ex" on July 22, 2007 - predicting that if he did not, Neil Heyward would kill her first.

Ms Heyward told friends that she eventually left the Mt Schank dairy farm because she was now being assaulted and threatened by her older son, Thomas. Thomas Heyward was also originally charged with murder but walked free when a magistrate threw out the charge because of a lack of evidence.

Old friend Barbara Possingham said she "literally bumped into" Ms Heyward in Naracoorte in May or June 2007 and was shocked at the dishevelled and grey appearance of Ms Heyward, who told her she had left after Thomas Heyward assaulted her. However, when Mrs Possingham next saw Ms Heyward, shortly before her death, she "looked absolutely fantastic".

As Ms Heyward seemed to be slowly regaining her confidence and composure, Neil Heyward - furious at his loss of control - was unravelling mentally and physically, the court heard.

Constable Paul Whaley told the court of an incident in which Ms Heyward returned to the Mt Schank dairy to retrieve a firearm she believed was hers, leading to Neil Heyward demanding she be charged with criminal trespass.

Neil Heyward handed the constable a doctor's certificate which said he was suffering anxiety and heart problems that had deteriorated since the separation.

Long-time acquaintance Knud Rasmussen told the court Neil Heyward showed up at his depot one day "out of the blue". Neil Heyward spoke about hiring a hit man to get rid of someone "without a trace".

When Mr Rasmussen said he wanted no part of the plans, Neil Heyward told him he would "make other arrangements".

Other witnesses told how Neil Heyward spoke of putting his wife through a mincer and how he asked a young worker if he would "baseball bat someone" for cash.

Former employers at a Beachport takeaway shop and a dairy farm near Naracoorte told the court Ms Heyward went to great lengths to keep her whereabouts a secret from Neil and Thomas Heyward, but would sometimes meet with Matthew Heyward, whom she loved and trusted.

Dairy manager Matthew Russell said Ms Heyward told him that "Matthew was batting for her, Matthew was on her side" in her claim for a $2 million share of the Heywards' $6.897 million estate.

It was this trust that prosecutors say Matthew Heyward used to lure his mother to a vacant childcare centre on Pick Ave, Mt Gambier, on the night of July 23, 2007.

The jury was told Matthew Heyward walked his mother into the house then left after his father and Minter emerged from a side room and accosted Ms Heyward. After a terrifying ordeal in which she was kicked in the face, Ms Heyward was shackled, bound and gagged then wrapped in curtains and stuffed into a wheelie bin, the court heard.

The jury was told the bin was put into a borrowed vehicle and that Neil Heyward dropped off Minter to a waiting Thomas Heyward before taking Ms Heyward to a property at Wilkin, in western Victoria, where her battered body was found, buried and still shackled alongside an iron bar on November 30, 2007.

While much of the evidence during the first week focused on the twisted relationship of the Heywards, the jury must eventually decide whether Matthew Heyward and Minter knowingly took part in Neil Heyward's murderous scheme or, as their lawyers suggest, they were "duped" into it by an "evil and manipulative" man.

There is a plethora of evidence yet to be put before the jury.