- UPDATE: Stockton man was stabbed before unit 'deliberately lit' on fire at Fullerton Street say police
A PERSON has been arrested over the alleged murder of Stockton man Graham Cameron who died in a 'deliberately lit' unit fire in 2021.
Senior police will address the media on Wednesday in relation to the arrest of a 22-year-old man, who is expected to be charged with murder later today.
The charge is in relation to an incident on Monday July 26 last year where emergency services were called to Fullerton Street at Stockton, following reports of a unit fire.
On arrival, officers from Fire and Rescue NSW found the premises well alight. They managed to extinguish the blaze a short time later.
In a search of the premises, the body of a man was discovered.
He was identified as the unit's resident and sole occupant, Graham Cameron.
At the time, Fire and Rescue NSW investigation manager Superintendent Greg Symonds said the unit - on one end of a block of five single-level homes - was well alight and "almost totally destroyed" when firefighters arrived at the scene.
"It was a wind-driven fire with very strong wind gusts," he told Newcastle Herald in 2021.
"The fire had vented so it wasn't oxygen-controlled - it would have been a very intense fire, probably up around 1000 degrees."
A crime scene was established by Newcastle police officers. Police, including forensic officers, spent days raking through the remains of the gutted unit which was also examined by specialist police who determined the fire had been "deliberately lit".
The matter was referred to detectives from the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad, who established Strike Force Childowla to investigate the homicide.
Following extensive inquiries, detectives - assisted by Northern Region Operation Support Group (OSG) - executed a search warrant at a home on Pitt Street at Stockton about 6.30am on Wednesday.
A 22-year-old man was arrested at the home and taken to Raymond Terrace police station, where he is expected to be charged with murder.
Investigations under Strike Force Childowla continue.
Mr Cameron kept to himself according to neighbours and was never without his dog Izzy, who was uninjured in the fire. He could often be seen around Stockton walking or riding his pushbike with Izzy, or taking her for a swim.
He was remembered as a larrikin who loved a few beers, the song Gangsta's Paradise.
