A man accused of murdering his friend and keeping her body in a freezer alongside five guinea pigs wiped away tears in court as evidence was given. George Gordon allegedly killed Delia McInerney in April 2023, days before she was due to move to Portugal for a “new life”.
The 65-year-old is said to have kept her dismembered body in a chest freezer at his flat in St Helens, Merseyside, along with her five guinea pigs, which he is also accused of killing. He allegedly stole money from her accounts and took out loans and credit cards in her name before his arrest in January this year, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Alleged Timeline of the Killing
Gordon, who was known as Chris to his alleged victim and their friends, is accused of murdering Ms McInerney on the evening of April 11 or in the early hours of April 12. Later on April 12, more than £2,000 was sent from Ms McInerney’s bank accounts to Gordon, the jury was told.
The court heard he then went to The Sefton Pub for breakfast, accompanied by a pint of Strongbow and a double whisky, before ordering a chest freezer from Amazon. Gordon claims he killed her in self defence.
Family Testimony
His cousin John Lawler told the court his contact with Ms McInerney stopped “all of a sudden”. He said: “I thought she was living as an illegal alien in Australia so she didn’t want anyone to compromise her situation.” Gordon would update him on the claimed whereabouts of Ms McInerney, who was 62 when she died.
Mr Lawler said: “He was coming up with fantasies. She’d gone to Australia to meet this man Rene. Then she ran away with his girlfriend to New Zealand. The girlfriend’s parents in New Zealand were mega rich. This is what he told me.” He added: “He just kept fantasising where she was. She was here, she was there, she was moving on everywhere.”
Gordon’s niece Paula Tillman told the court the defendant had asked her to help with painting and cleaning his St Helens flat, where Ms McInerney’s body was later discovered. She said: “He looked like a bit of a hoarder. He had animals as well, loads of animals, and as soon as you walked through the communal doors you could smell the stench of the flat.”
Details From the Flat
She said he told her to put items on top of the chest freezer and added that he had items such as goats’ cheese and meat in there. On one occasion, she said, he told her he had put a guinea pig into the freezer after it had died. Ms Tillman said Ms McInerney’s bank cards and clothing were in the flat, along with her art supplies.
She added: “He always talked about Delia. That he loved her, he missed her.” She said her uncle told her Ms McInerney was in Australia and was having a baby with another woman. Asked if she would describe her uncle as generous, she said: “He’s like a giant teddy bear. He’ll help anyone if he can.”
Gordon, wearing a grey jumper, wiped away tears as Ms Tillman left the court. In a statement read to the court, neighbour Taylor Johnson said she had seen Gordon on a bus in 2025 and he told her that he and Ms McInerney had a baby. “He said the baby was aged one and she was pregnant with another,” she said. “She had carried his baby and she had her eggs frozen.”
Gordon denies murder and causing unnecessary suffering to animals. He has admitted offences relating to the concealment of Ms McInerney’s body and fraudulent financial activity after her death.
