A pensioner accused of murdering and dismembering his "soulmate" before leaving her body in a freezer told neighbours that his daughters worked for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and "looked after the Queen's horses", a court has heard.
Delia McInerney was found dead in George Gordon's flat on Gerards Court in St Helens alongside her five "beloved" guinea pigs, which he is alleged to have drowned, in January this year. The 62-year-old, from Anfield, is said to have been killed as long ago as April 2023, apparently hit over the head with a hammer. She had reportedly been planning to move to Portugal to begin a "new life" only days later.
Witness evidence
Gordon, 65, bought a sledgehammer and electric handsaw from eBay in the weeks before Ms McInerney's death, then stole thousands of pounds from her bank account and took out a £10,000 loan in her name. He is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of her murder.
One of Gordon's neighbours, Eve Ruane, was among the witnesses called to give evidence to the jury of five men and seven women on Friday. Wearing black clothing and glasses in the witness box, she told the court of the defendant: "He was very talkative. He seemed very nice. He used to go on long tangents about stories and things. Sometimes, he seemed to sensationalise. It never seemed like he was doing any harm."
Ms Ruane recalled that Gordon had previously bought her three-year-old daughter a Hot Wheels track as a Christmas present and had said of Ms McInerney: "He said that she'd moved away to Portugal, that she had a farm, that she had guinea pigs. She'd then got into a relationship with a woman, used his sperm to then have a child and he told me she was pregnant."
"I don't know if it was Delia or the woman she was with who was pregnant with another child. It was an odd name. I can't remember the name. It seemed to be in the vein of Greek mythology. It kind of stuck in my mind."
Claims about family
Ms Ruane said Gordon had led her to believe his relationship with Ms McInerney was "more romantic than platonic", adding: "It seemed like a lot of his conversations did lead back to Delia, whether it was anecdotes or she liked this place or went to this place. It was quite frequent."
When Martin Reid KC, prosecuting, asked whether Gordon had spoken of any other relationships, Ms Ruane replied: "He talked about a daughter he had with his first ex-wife. He also mentioned a woman who he went to university with had a child and didn't tell him until the child was 18 and was applying for university himself. He said that he was applying for Cambridge."
Ms Ruane said that Gordon, who told her he was a "Cambridge alumni", added: "His son struggled to get in, so they contacted him to help him get in. That's how he said he'd found out about his son. He said his son was a banker in China."
Gordon also told her his daughter was "a vet for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia" and went on to recall: "He said his first wife had died of a heart attack. He was shocked, because she was in the army and she was quite fit. He said she died in Italy. They were having issues bringing her back. He enlisted the help of his daughter and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to bring his wife back to England so they could have a funeral."
Other neighbour's account
Ms Ruane recalled that Gordon claimed they had sought to repatriate his ex-wife's body in the Prince's private jet. Another neighbour, Rebecca Ollier, gave evidence from behind a screen, telling the jury of one occasion at Easter: "He put a bouncy castle up for the children. There's a big communal garden in the back. He said there'd be wine, food. The kids would do an Easter hunt as well."
"He said he had property in Liverpool, a property in Portugal, and he said the Portugal one he was going to buy, so he flew there. He said he just owned properties. He said he had a daughter called Rebecca who lives in Africa and she's got a job looking after the Queen's horses."
While Gordon did not state "which Queen" he was referring to, Ms Ollier described him as "friendly, very chatty, well spoken and kind". She added under cross-examination from defence counsel Gordon Cole KC: "He seemed like he had health problems. He used a walking stick. He was quite a large man. He always struggled really badly with breathing. It would take him quite a while to get up and down stairs."
Prosecution's case
Mr Reid previously told the jury during the prosecution's opening: "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."
Gordon denies murder and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. The trial, before Mr Justice Goose, continues.
