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 murdering 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.
But 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.
Neighbour's testimony
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. When I've seen him going to the shop on the corner he would stop quite frequently to get his breath."
"I would offer to carry his bags but he would always refuse. He was friendly and chatty. He would stop and talk and tell us his life story. He told us he had a property in Portugal and Delia would stay there. He said he had houses in Liverpool but he didn't say where the houses were."
Bouncy castle and Easter egg hunt
Ms Johnson said "Mr Parcel" was interested in her work and she believed he was a professional because she sometimes saw him with a briefcase. She added: "We would often sit in the garden so we would see him...he would plant pots most days and sit outside on a chair and stare at them all."
"Any time we would wake up during the night Mr Parcel would appear to be awake in his flat. He always had a lamp on and would be sat in his living room scratching his head. The lamp would be on all time, even in the day and when he went out."
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" which had £20 cash inside.
Evidence from niece
The jury was also shown analysis of Ms McInerney's sent messages on April 9 2023, Easter Sunday, which showed her tell two different friends that there were "hyper kids" around a bouncy castle and "drunken adults vaping" in the shared garden area of the flats. The prosecution alleges she was killed on the evening of April 11 or in the early hours of April 12.
The court earlier heard from Gordon's niece and goddaughter Paula Tillman, who gave evidence to the jury of five men and seven women. Wearing a grey checked coat in the witness box, she told the court that she "had a good relationship with her uncle throughout her life" and said that she "didn't really know" Ms McInerney "but knew she was like a partner to her uncle", adding: "I think they were like friends, partners."
Having last seen Gordon around Christmas of 2025, Ms Tillman said she had previously attended his flat "about 10 times or more to paint and decorate" at his request. Asked by lead prosecution counsel Martin Reid KC about the state of the property, she replied: "He looked like a bad hoarder. He had loads of animals. As soon as you walked through the communal doors, you could smell the stench of the flat. Every room was cluttered as soon as you walked in."
Gordon was said to have kept the guinea pigs on top of the chest freezer where Ms McInerney's dismembered body was kept for nearly three years, with Ms Tillman having responded when asked whether he would place anything into the appliance: "No, he wouldn't. He just said he had goats cheese and meat in there."
He didn't disclose what was in the freezer. The only way I knew about the freezer is when my mum phoned me up and told me what happened with my uncle George. I was in disbelief."
Videos and self-defence claim
The jury was also shown home videos of Ms McInerney and Gordon, known to friends as "Chris", together, which were from an SD card found in a camera at his home. One video showed Ms McInerney walking around the address, which appeared to be "in a very untidy state". She is heard being "abusive towards him regarding the state of the property", Ms Appleton told the jury.
In the video, Ms McInerney said: "It's been here since then because we cleaned this up last year. You're a filthy pig mate. Carrier bags, dusty bins, rubbish, filth. You've had a clear up since I came here the other day. You definitely had a clear up. Where's all your Russian porn then? W***** on and stuck to the ceiling?"
Mr Reid previously told the jury during the prosecution's opening on Wednesday: "On the 8th of January this year, the police attended the defendant George Gordon's flat in St Helens. They went there because concerns had been raised by a number of people and agencies about the whereabouts and wellbeing of Delia McInerney."
"Ms McInerney had been friends with the defendant for many years and spent much of her time living at his flat, although she had her own house in Liverpool and property abroad. Ms McInerney's friends had not seen her for some time. The defendant, for over 18 months, lied to them about her whereabouts and sometimes pretended to be Ms McInerney when communicating with her friends by phone messages or email."
"Unbeknown to them, but known very well to the defendant, Delia McInerney had died in April 2023 at the defendant's hands. Her dismembered body was found in a chest freezer in the defendant's flat on the 8th of January this year."
"In the meantime, the defendant fraudulently obtained thousands of pounds from her bank accounts and obtained a loan and credit cards in her name. The defendant admits that he killed Delia McInerney but claims, we understand, that he acted in self-defence."
The trial, before Mr Justice Goose, continues.
