Man, 65, murdered 'free spirit' artist and kept her dismembered remains in freezer along with bodies of her beloved guinea pigs while raiding her bank accounts, court hears

A man murdered an artist and hid her dismembered remains in a freezer next to the bodies of her beloved guinea pigs for almost three years after learning she planned to move to Portugal, a court heard today.George Gordon, 65, admits killing his friend and 'soulmate' Delia McInerney, 62, at his flat in April 2023 just days before the 'free spirit' was due to start a new life in the country, claiming self-defence.However, a jury was today told that he hatched a 'premeditated' plan to kill her, buying items including a sledgehammer, drugs and surgical handbook Gray's Anatomy in the weeks leading up to her death.Gordon, who also used the name Chris, is then said to have dismembered her body and placed the pieces in a chest freezer he had recently purchased.He is also alleged to have killed Ms McInerney's five guinea pigs, which were due to go to Portugal with her, and put their bodies in the chest freezer next to hers.Gordon then allegedly sent messages and emails posing as Ms McInerney for 18 months to fool her friends and family and cover up her murder.During that time he withdrew thousands of pounds in cash from her bank accounts and fraudulently obtained credit cards and loans in her name, the trial heard. Martin Reid KC, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Gordon had told 'bare-faced lies' in an attempt to hide her murder. Artist Delia McInerney, 62, has been described as a 'free spirit' who was planning to move to Portugal along with her pets when she vanished George Gordon, 65, is accused of murdering Ms McInerney and hiding her dismembered remains along with the bodies of her guinea pigs in a chest freezer at his home in St Helens, Merseyside (pictured outside court on a previous occasion)He described how police finally went to Gordon's flat in St Helens, Merseyside, in January 2026 after concerns were raised about the 'whereabouts and wellbeing' of Ms McInerney.They had been friends for many years, he said, and Ms McInerney spent much of her time living at his flat, although she had her own home in Anfield, Liverpool, as well as property abroad.Mr Reid said that over the next 18 months, Gordon 'lied' to her friends about her whereabouts and sometimes pretended to be her in phone messages or emails.'Unbeknown to them, but known very well to the defendant, Delia McInerney had died in April 2023 at the defendant's hands,' he said.'Her dismembered body was found in a chest freezer in the defendant's flat on January 8 this year.'The jury heard how when concerns were raised about Ms McInerney's whereabouts and police went to Gordon's flat, he told officers: 'She's in the freezer.'The prosecution claim that evidence suggests Ms McInerney died on the night of April 11, 2023, or early the next day.She had been due to fly to Portugal two days later, on April 13, after raising concerns about 5G masts near her home. Police outside Gordon's home in St Helens after Ms McInerney's remains were discovered On April 11, Gordon took a video of Ms McInerney with her guinea pigs which was to be the last footage in which she was seen alive.'These, the Crown says, are the same five guinea pigs that Ms McInerney was planning to take to Portugal just two days later, and of which she was so fond,' Mr Reid said.'They were, the prosecution says, to meet the same fate as their owner Ms McInerney.'Examinations of the guinea pigs showed they died by drowning, the jury heard.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, which he accompanied by a pint of Strongbow and a double whisky, before ordering a chest freezer from Amazon.In the months leading up to her death, Gordon allegedly made a number of purchases of items 'consistent or similar to' those used to kill and dismember her.They included a pair of 'heavy-duty' scissors capable of cutting through bone, a copy of a book containing instructions on how to prepare a lethal cocktail of drugs, and the Gray's Anatomy textbook.Further purchases included a cordless handsaw, drugs used to treat insomnia, a 4lb lump sledgehammer and a book called Wicked Women.Gordon also carried out searches for 'butcher's tools' and accessed Amazon and eBay searching for a 'meat saw, cleavers and choppers'.In police interviews, he initially claimed he had come home and found her 'writhing on the floor in pain' after taking an overdose of pills and hit her on the head 'to end her suffering'.But he now claims, the jury heard, that he acted in self-defence after being attacked by her when he went to call an ambulance, striking her with a hammer or mallet.After killing her, Gordon travelled to Portugal on April 24 and took photos of himself at a house she had bought there, the court heard.He also allegedly sent a message from her phone posing as Ms McInerney to one of her friends about being invited to King Charles's Coronation.'Believe it or not, Chris has got an invitation to the coronation of that shape-shifting lizard on Saturday and got me a ticket as a carer to look after him,' it read.'For the last 40 years he's been getting Christmas cards off him, if he thinks I'm curtsying to him he can f*** off.'He also claimed they had got an invitation to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Liverpool that year.A few days later he allegedly 'spun a tale' about being greeted at Westminster Abbey by actors Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry.But his 'web of lies' began to 'unravel' in December 2025 when benefits staff and council officials raised concerns about Ms McInerney's welfare, Mr Reid said. Neighbours also reported an 'awful' smell coming from Gordon's flat.Gordon had gone to a local chip-shop and told staff: 'The b***h is dead, not the good wife, the bad wife.'He had a previous conviction for fraud and an urgent safeguarding investigation was initiated, the jury heard.When the chest-freezer was searched on January 8, officers saw 'human legs and feet' wrapped in black plastic bags and what looked like a bodily organ, as well as the bodies of five guinea pigs, also in plastic bags.Thousands of pounds had been emptied from her account and £22,000 of debt had been built up on her credit cards.Gordon, who did not appear in the dock this morning, denies charges of murder and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.The trial continues.