Reverend Christopher Gray, known as 'Father Chris' in Anfield, was stabbed to death in the grounds of his own church, St Margaret's Church, in the early hours of August 13, 1996.
At 12.40am, two men were seen arguing outside St Margaret's Church Vicarage on Rocky Lane in Anfield. Staff from the nearby St Margaret's Nursing Home on Belmont Drive went to investigate the raised voices and discovered the body of a man outside the vicarage. He had been stabbed to death.
Around the same time, a man living next door to the church saw his red Ford Escort being stolen and driven away.
Tributes to the vicar
The victim was identified as the vicar of St Margaret's, the Reverend Christopher Gray. Tributes poured in from parishioners and senior figures in the Church of England, including the Bishop of Liverpool David Sheppard, who described him as one of the best priests "of his generation".
In that evening's final edition of the ECHO, police took the unconventional decision to name their prime suspect for the murder: 31-year-old Terence Storey, who had recently been released from Walton prison after serving a sentence for robbery.
Explaining the force's thinking, Detective Chief Inspector Davies said: "Because of the ferocity of this attack on a God-fearing man, we have taken the unusual step of naming the man we want to question."
Storey was arrested at 1am the following morning at a flat in Parr, St Helens. Police also searched the Liverpool YMCA, where Storey had been staying. Outside on Mount Pleasant they found the car, which had a knife inside it.
A devoted priest
A few hours later, Rev Gray's parents, retired GP Phillip and his wife Margaret Gray, paid tribute to their "adored son", with Phillip remarking: "He was very happy in Liverpool. He liked the people."
Speaking at the opening of the inquest into his son's death, Phillip added he was inspired by the leadership of the Bishop of Liverpool and wanted to do good work in the deprived areas of Merseyside.
Rev Gray was born in Portsmouth and later graduated from the University of Oxford. In 1992, after training for the priesthood at Mirfield in Yorkshire, he became a curate at St Jude's Church in Cantril Farm, later renamed Stockbridge Village. He moved to St Margaret's just over a year before his death.
Floral tributes were placed outside the church, including from local children. The ECHO later reported that Rev Gray was known as "Father Chris in Anfield", who "blended in seamlessly with the families who made up his flock at St Margaret's Church".
Storey 'boasted of receiving £1,500 from Rev Gray'
Storey was charged with Rev Gray's murder. Shortly before his trial was due to start in the autumn of 1997 at Preston Crown Court, he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison by Mr Justice John Kay on Monday, October 27 1997.
Mr Richard Henriques, prosecuting, told the court Storey had visited Rev Gray at the vicarage on a number of occasions. He said student Cameron Robson, who was lodging at St Margaret's in May 1996, witnessed Storey asking the priest for money in the hallway. The priest refused to give him anything and Storey replied: "Don't think I couldn't do you too," in a threatening manner.
On another occasion, Mr Robson spotted Storey at the vicarage very early in the morning. He heard Rev Gray telling him not to come back again because he did not wish to see him.
Mr Henriques said on one occasion Mr Robson had seen Storey at the vicarage. Storey had been glassy eyed, mumbling and making erratic movements. He said: "It was plain that the defendant was abusing Class A drugs with some regularity."
Other witnesses told police that Storey had boasted of being able to obtain money easily from somebody connected with the church. He said he had received around £1,500 from Rev Gray in total.
Church Warden Josephine Leather had frequently seen Storey at the vicarage and said Storey would be aggressive towards her. She thought Storey's visits unnerved the priest.
Storey: 'Shut up I've killed Chris'
Turning to the murder, Ms Leather said she saw Rev Gray and Storey talking on the steps of the vicarage at around midnight. At 12.30am the doorbell rang and she heard kicking and banging on the door.
The living room window then shattered and Storey jumped through it threatening her with a bloodstained knife. Mr Henriques told the court that Storey said: "Shut up I've killed Chris. Look there's the blood on the knife."
Storey demanded cash and fled in the red Ford Escort. Soon afterwards, he confessed to the killing to friends at a flat in Everton. One of the witnesses said in a statement to police that Storey told them: "He made this ear piercing scream - I'll never forget that noise for the rest of my life."
The court was told how Storey had a string of convictions for wounding, burglary, illegal drug taking, robbery and theft dating back to the 1980s.
He spent several years behind bars and was convicted of wounding and threatening to kill in 1994. He was also fined in 1993 for unlawful possession of a knife.
Detective Superintendent John Kerruish confirmed Rev Gray had handed over money to Storey, but as time went on he felt "unnerved" by his visits and had asked him to stop. He was unsure as to why Rev Gray handed over the money, although Storey gave the impression he could "blag" money from the priest.
But Storey's solicitor, Julian Linskill, argued money may not have been the prime motivation for Storey's visits, arguing that Rev Gray may have been trying to help Storey.
Storey's death
More than 20 years after the murder, on September 17, 2017, 52-year-old Storey was discovered hanging in his cell at HMP Liverpool.
Storey was taken to hospital where he died shortly before 7pm. In October 2019, a jury inquest, sitting in Kirkdale, concluded that failures contributed to the inmate's death who was said to be "vulnerable."
Storey was described as a "long term prisoner" who had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable and anti-social personality disorder.
He was at a high risk of self harm, and had made previous attempts on his life. Before his death Storey was reported as "looking positively to his future within the prison", moving to J Wing, undertaking an art project and becoming a 'listener.'
However, at the inquest the jury decided he was not suitably looked after and there were not sufficient safety measures at the Hornby Road jail in Walton.
His care plan "did not extend beyond placement into a gated cell, with 24 hour observations and Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT)" which Storey would have found "extremely humiliating and undignified."
In a long narrative verdict, the inquest heard that Storey "remained in the gated cell for an excessive period of time". Coroner Joseph Hart said it was unclear if he had taken his own life as he had not left a note.
