Steven William Gordon had been cleared of plotting to murder a wealthy Gold Coast businessman for his estranged wife.

August 1, 2019

A man has been found not guilty of offering $50,000 for the murder of a Gold Coast woman’s ex-husband in a plot which failed because the hired hit men never wanted to kill.

Steven William Gordon, 48, has walked free from the Brisbane Supreme Court after being cleared of attempting to procure the murder of Malcolm Stewart in 2010.

During a four-day trial, prosecutors claimed Mr Gordon was an associate of Mr Stewart’s ex-wife Theresa Dalton, who was concerned about the carve up of $3 million in assets after 24 years of marriage.

However the plot failed because a hit man Mr Gordon allegedly contracted never intended to carry out the killing, the trial heard.

Jason Robinson testified Mr Gordon allegedly called him and his cousin, Robert Lorey, a couple of days after he was released from prison, saying he “had a proposal” for them.

“He asked me if I wanted to make some money,” Mr Robinson said during the trial.

Mr Robinson said after agreeing to kill Mr Stewart with half of the money to be paid up-front, he and Mr Lorey went to his Upper Coomera unit “to have a look” but decided to break in because no one was home.

Mr Robinson told the court they stole 23 guns found in two safes and sold them for between $6000 and $10,000.

He said when he told Gordon they had robbed but not killed Mr Stewart, he became agitated and stressed, and said they now needed to do the job for free.

That was the last contact he had with Gordon about the subject, he testified.

A jury on Thursday found Mr Gordon not guilty of two counts of attempting to procure the commission of murder.