Man killed 'soulmate' and kept body in freezer with her guinea pigs for almost three years, court told

A man murdered his friend and kept her dismembered body in a freezer with her pet guinea pigs for almost three years while taking out credit cards and loans in her name, a court has heard.

George Gordon, 65, allegedly killed his artist “soulmate” Delia McInerney in April 2023, just days before she was set to move to Portugal for a “new life”, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

The court heard Ms McInerney, who died at the age of 62, stayed with Gordon at his flat in St Helens, Merseyside, when she was not travelling abroad or at her house in Anfield, Liverpool.

Martin Reid KC, prosecuting, told the jury Ms McInerney’s body was found by police in a chest freezer at Gordon’s flat, in Gerards Court, on 8 January this year.

Mr Reid said after her death, Gordon posed as his alleged victim in messages and emails to her friends.

He told the jury: “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 January 8 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.”

Gordon, who did not appear in the dock, admits killing Ms McInerney, described by a relative as his “soulmate”, but initially told police he had hit her with a hammer to “end her suffering” after she had taken an overdose.

Mr Reid said Gordon now claims he acted in self-defence.

The court heard Ms McInerney, who had concerns about 5G phone masts close to her home in Anfield, was due to move to Portugal with her guinea pigs in April 2023.

After hearing of her plans to relocate, Gordon bought items, including a sledgehammer and a handsaw, which were “consistent with those that would later be used, or required, to kill and dismember Ms McInerney”, Mr Reid said.

He also collected prescriptions for medications later found in her system, the court was told.

On 11 April, Gordon took a video of Ms McInerney with her guinea pigs which was to be the last footage in which she was seen alive.

Mr Reid said: “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. 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.

Gordon, who was known as Chris to his victim and their friends, is accused of murdering his friend on the evening of 11 April or in the early hours of 12 April.

Later on 12 April, 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.

Mr Reid said Gordon, who travelled to Portugal on 24 April and visited the property Ms McInerney owned there, posed as his victim in messages to her friends and neighbours.

He told some of her friends she had been taken ill, while others were told she had gone to the King’s coronation in May 2023 with Gordon, where she claimed they had met Dame Joanna Lumley and Sir Stephen Fry in Westminster Abbey.

Mr Reid said: “This ridiculous account would almost be amusing were it not for the knowledge that all this time, rather than meeting famous actors at the King’s coronation, Ms McInerney’s body was lying in a chest freezer in the defendant’s flat in St Helens.”

He told the court Gordon’s “web of lies” began to unravel in December 2025 after a request was made to the Department of Work and Pensions by someone called Chris Cavendish-Gordon, who claimed to be a social worker, asking for Ms McInerney’s personal independence payment (PIP) be transferred to a different account.

The jury was told after telephone inquiries and financial checks, Gordon was arrested at his flat on 8 January and as he was escorted out told officers “she’s in there” and added “she’s in the freezer”.

Gordon denies murder and causing unnecessary suffering to animals.