George Gordon murder trial Delia McInerney St Helens, Digi Mart USA News (St Helens, England): A man accused of murdering his “soul mate” was known as “Mr Parcel” and paid for a bouncy castle for his neighbours’ children at Easter, a court has heard.
George Gordon, 65, is accused of killing his friend Delia McInerney, who was found dismembered in a chest freezer in his flat on Gerards Court, St Helens, alongside her five guinea pigs in January this year. The 62-year-old, from Anfield, was said to have been killed as long ago as April 2023, having apparently been hit over the head with a hammer.
She had supposedly been planning to move to Portugal to enjoy a “new life” only days later. The jury was told that Gordon meanwhile bought a sledgehammer and electric handsaw from eBay in the weeks before Ms McInerney’s death, before stealing thousands of pounds from her bank account and taking out a £10,000 loan in her name.
Gordon is currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court, having denied murder and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. In a statement read to the court by prosecution junior Katy Appleton on Thursday, Taylor Johnson, a neighbour of Gordon, said the accused was known as “Mr Parcel” because of his tendency to take in deliveries for the block of flats.
“Everybody in Gerards Court knows him by this name,” she said. “He is a large build, glasses and he has teeth missing at the top.
He has grey hair. He always walks with a stick.
He appears to get breathless.”
Ms Johnson said he was friendly and chatty, and that he told neighbours he had a property in Portugal where Delia would stay, as well as houses in Liverpool, without saying where those were. She added that she believed he was a professional because she sometimes saw him with a briefcase.
The court heard Gordon was “always really friendly” and paid for a bouncy castle for children on the block. Ms Johnson said he also set up an Easter egg hunt, including “golden ones” containing £20 in cash.
The jury was also shown analysis of Ms McInerney’s messages sent on April 9, 2023, Easter Sunday, in which she told two friends there were “hyper kids” around a bouncy castle and “drunken adults vaping” in the shared garden area. The prosecution alleges she was killed on the evening of April 11 or in the early hours of April 12.
Gordon’s niece and goddaughter, Paula Tillman, also gave evidence. She told the court she “had a good relationship with her uncle throughout her life” and that she had attended his flat about 10 times or more to paint and decorate.
She described the property as cluttered and said it housed many animals, including gerbils, guinea pigs and rabbits.
Ms Tillman said Gordon told her he kept goats cheese and meat in the chest freezer and did not disclose what else was inside. She said she only learned about the freezer when her mother told her what had happened.
The jury was shown home videos of Ms McInerney and Gordon, known to friends as “Chris”, which were taken from an SD card found in a camera at his home. The court heard the videos were recorded in December 2009.
In one, Ms McInerney is heard complaining about the untidy state of the property.
Prosecutor Martin Reid KC told the jury on Wednesday that police attended Gordon’s flat on January 8 this year after concerns were raised about Ms McInerney’s whereabouts and wellbeing. He said Gordon had lied to her friends about her whereabouts for more than 18 months and sometimes pretended to be her when communicating by phone or email.
Mr Reid said Gordon fraudulently obtained thousands of pounds from her bank accounts and took out a loan and credit cards in her name. He also said Gordon admits killing Ms McInerney but claims he acted in self-defence.
