Marek Hecko, 26, fled from a property in Chelmsford, Essex, after stabbing Adrian Ellingford, 44, twice in the back on July 25 last year.
Swigging a bottle of Courvoisier brandy, Hecko appeared the following morning outside the house on Nelson Grove bragging to police officers that he knew what went down.
Bodycam footage showed the ‘heavily intoxicated’ Hecko approaching police telling them: ‘I know what happened. I know the people… involved. I just know that some guy came here and he fucked up some guy.
‘If you don’t have me, you don’t know what happened. You’re going to think about me, but it’s not going to be me, because you have no proof. This city is mine.’
He was arrested after becoming confrontational before it was realised that he was the main suspect.
The court heard how Adrian had been staying at Hecko’s ex-girlfriend Stephanie Breame’s home on the night he was murdered.
Stephanie woke in bed to Adrian saying ‘someone’ was in the house – moments later, he collapsed with a knife embedded in his back. Metro reports.
Hecko had previously been in a relationship with Stephanie who is Ellingford’s partner, before she broke it off for seven months in April 2022 over his drug use but he continued to obsess about her and would regularly send unwanted text messages and videos.
He swamped her with lengthy messages and took photos and videos of himself outside her place of work as he ‘stalked’ her.
Hecko even made internet searches to see if he could hack into Stephanie’s Facebook to see if she was in another relationship.
Hecko’s DNA was found on a bottle of wine at the scene as well as the handle of a knife as it had snapped off.
A jury Monday unanimously found Hecko guilty of murder. He appeared emotionless as he was jailed for life with a minimum of 26 years.
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe said: ‘This was a senseless attack on Adrian, which has left two children without a father.
‘I hope that they can move forward and find some closure now that Hecko is behind bars.’
Adrian’s wife, Laura, described the victim as an ‘amazing husband, loving son, a caring brother, a friend to many and most importantly a truly brilliant father’.
‘He was a father to two boys aged 10 and 12 who volunteered at the local boys’ scout group, she said.
‘Having to tell them both that their beloved dad was never coming home was the most painful and heartbreaking thing that I have ever had to do,’ Laura added.
