A dogsitter who stabbed an ‘old man’ to death for letting her pet Pomeranian out has today been found guilty of murder.
Winter Swan-Miller, 37, fatally stabbed 62-year-old Stuart Crocker 26 times after he let her therapy dog, Oblivion, escape – before her pet was then stolen.
She said she had ‘no choice’ but to kill Mr Crocker and boasted of how she’d been a ‘bad girl’ on TikTok to achieve ‘fame and notoriety’, jurors were told.
Mr Crocker’s body was found in his flat ‘surrounded by notes’ of confessions which were written by Swan-Miller and left as a ‘trail’ for the ‘pigs’ to follow, the court heard.
Swan-Miller was today found guilty of murder after an 11 week trial at Winchester Crown Court, Hants. She will be sentenced tomorrow.
Winter Swan-Miller, 37, (pictured) was today found guilty of murder after an 11 week trial at Winchester Crown Court, Hants. She will be sentenced tomorrow
She fatally stabbed 62-year-old Stuart Crocker (pictured) 26 times after he let her therapy dog, Oblivion, escape – before her pet was then stolen
Opening the trial in May, Nicola Shannon KC said Mr Crocker was found dead by paramedics at his home address in Andover, Wilts, on June 28 last year.
‘Police believe that Stuart Crocker was killed in the early hours of the morning on June 23,’ the prosecutor said.
‘They didn’t find out about it, however, until five days later because it was at 11.58am on the 28th of June that emergency services received a phone call from a neighbour of Mr Crocker’s.’
When officers arrived, they noted ‘it was immediately obvious that he sustained a large number of stab wounds’.
They found Mr Crocker lying under a white blanket with the TV playing and a switched on fan placed behind his head which was used to keep his body cool.
He was also ‘surrounded by notes’ which had been written by Swan-Miller and ‘were made to be discovered’. Ms Shannon KC said they were part of ‘a trail she left for pigs, in her words, to follow’.
‘Take my f*****g dog you whore. This is why I’ve done this haha,’ one note read, the court was told.
‘How does his death feel haha. You thought I would let you get away with taking me for a f*****g mug. Taking my dog, are you real.’
The jurors were also shown a number of TikToks, organised into parts, which were posted on June 23.
In one video, titled ‘Part Two’, Swan-Miller can be heard saying: ‘Taking my dog from me, the only thing in the entire world that I’ve got.
The court heard how Swan-Miller told her TikTok followers: ‘I did do what I did and I did it because I had no choice. They took away the only thing in my life that I have got, and that’s my dog Oblivion’. Pictured is her Pomeranian called Oblivion
Mr Crocker was found dead by paramedics at his home address in Andover, Wilts, on June 28 last year. Police are pictured at the scene last year
‘I did do what I did and I did it because I had no choice. They took away the only thing in my life that I have got, and that’s my dog Oblivion.’
She added: ‘You took away my dog, you all did this.’
And in another, she said: ‘I swore if anyone hurt my dog I would never let it go. I did it as a f*****g statement my morals let me do it.’
Swan-Miler told her TikTok followers: ‘I’m going to be taking a break from TikTok for a bit I think because I’ve been a bad girl.
‘If you want to write to me, I’ll happily write back.’
She continued: ‘There’s more to the story than just one side. I just hope that it all goes well really. At the moment, I feel sick. But I don’t feel like I’ve done a bad thing at all.’
The court was also shown a letter that Swan-Miller sent to a friend in which she said ‘I killed Stewart’.
It read: ‘He f*****g let my dog out and Kelly Smith stole him so I stabbed him.’
Ms Shannon KC said after stabbing Mr Crocker 26 times, the dog owner walked into Andover town centre and went to McDonald’s for a sausage and egg McMuffin meal.
‘Throughout the morning, it would seem she was prepared for potential arrest,’ the prosecutor told the court.
‘Firstly she was making careful preparations and sorted out her domestic affairs, and secondly she was hoping for some degree of fame and notoriety for what she had done.’
Swan-Miller (pictured) said she had ‘no choice’ but to kill Mr Crocker and boasted of how she’d been a ‘bad girl’ on TikTok to achieve ‘fame and notoriety’, jurors were told
Witnesses who spoke to Swan-Miller that morning described her as ‘cheerful’ and ‘laid back’ – and she even told one woman that she could take her dog, Oblivion, as she was going to prison, the court heard.
Swan-Miller then left her phone in a local pub and ‘went on the run’ to Birmingham. It was heard she asked a friend if she could stay with him to which he said she could not, but suggested she spoke to Edward Jones, 44.
After police found Mr Crocker’s body, the pair were eventually arrested on Friday 30 June and Swan-Miller has remained in custody since.
Swan-Miller – who denied the offences – has now been found guilty of murder and two counts of fraud.
The jury found Jones, who denied both charges against him, not guilty of assisting an offender and fraud – in relation to the use of the credit card.
