Notorious serial killer dies at Sydney hospital aged 72

The 72-year-old, who was jailed for life for the brutal murders of several women across NSW and Victoria, has died in a Sydney hospital.

An infamous serial killer known as the “Lonely Hearts Killer’ has died aged 72 in a Sydney hospital.

Rodney Francis Cameron – also known as Rodney Mallard – died at the Prince of Wales Hospital about 11.30pm on Saturday, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The 72-year-old was jailed for life for the murder of 44-year-old Maria Goellner after he bashed and strangled her at the Sky Rider Motor Inn at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.

Cameron had met Ms Goellner through a matchmaking competition on the radio before luring her to her death.

Notorious serial killer Rodney Francis Cameron has died aged 72.

He had just been released from prison following the murder of two other women in 1974.

The first was the rape and murder of Florence Edith Jackson, 49, in January 1974, also in Katoomba.

Cameron had been working as a trainee nurse and turned to Ms Jackson for support after losing his job, only to later murder her.

He then fled the Blue Mountains and crossed the border into Victoria, before picking up 19-year-old hitchhiker Francesco Ciliberto and murdering her.

Rodney Francis Cameron was convicted of the 1974 murders of Florence Jackson and Francesco Ciliberto before being paroled in 1990. Picture: Supplied

He served nine years in prison in NSW for Ms Jackson’s murder, before being extradited to Victoria where he was locked up for a further seven years for Ms Ciliberto’s murder

He was released from prison in November 1989 before going on to murder Ms Goellner just seven months later.

Cameron confessed to a third murder while behind bars – the slaying of elderly war widow Sarah McKenzie at Milsons Point.

Mrs McKenzie was found dead inside her home with more than 30 stab wounds in 1974, but he was never tried for her murder.

The Daily Telegraph reported Cameron had been suffering from cancer in recent years and had been in palliative care.

NewsWire has contacted Corrective Services NSW for comment.

Foxtel’s Crime Investigation Australia recounted his crmes in an episode in 2009.

Hosted again by Steve Liebmann, the episode featured detailed reenactments and interviews with key figures from Cameron’s crimes including the brother of one of the murder victims and investigating police.

“Cameron’s psychopathic tendencies appeared very early in life when, at the age of just ten, he tried to strangle his first victim – a young girl,” the program’s press release said at the time.

“He then attempted to strangle two other women, and moved onto a life of alcohol and drug abuse, including experimenting with hallucinogenic chemicals and Satanism.

At the age of 19, while working at a nursing home in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, he raped and strangled nurse, Florence Jackson.”

Convicted killer Rodney Francis Cameron in 1974. Picture: Supplied

He was jailed for life for the Lonely Hearts murder of Maria Goellner. Picture: Supplied

A week later, he hitched a lift to Melbourne with a 19-year-old bank clerk, Francesco Ciliberto, whom he bashed and strangled with a football sock.

A short time later, in 1974, he was caught in Queensland after abducting a mother and daughter.

He told arresting police he “had to kill three.” He was sentenced to prison for life and served 16 years.

Soon after his release in 1990, Cameron moved onto his crime that saw him dubbed the “Lonely Hearts Killer” after he used a radio match-making program to lure his next victim,

Maria Goellner was one of six women who responded to his call.

A few weeks later the 44-year-old was found lying dead on a motel room floor in the Blue Mountains, the same area where Cameron had committed this first murder 16 years earlier. Rodney Francis Cameron was jailed again for life – this time his file was marked “never to be released.”