Newly released photographs show artist Delia McInerney with the pets she adored before, prosecutors allege, she was killed by a friend who dismembered her body and concealed her remains in a freezer alongside those of her animals.
McInerney, 62, was allegedly killed by George Gordon, 65, at his flat in St Helens, Merseyside, in April 2023, only days before she was due to begin a new life in Portugal.
Gordon claims he acted in self-defence after McInerney attacked him with a knife.
The prosecution alleges, however, that the killing was planned and motivated, at least in part, by financial gain. Prosecutors also claim he killed her guinea pigs and placed their bodies in the freezer.
The trial is continuing at Liverpool Crown Court.
Photographs of Gordon and the “eccentric” free spirit, along with images of McInerney’s much-loved pets, were shown to jurors and have now been made public.
One photograph, taken on March 29, 2023, shows McInerney wearing a vivid orange jumper as she cuddles one of her guinea pigs.
Another image shows Gordon smiling beside a stack of cages containing some of the animals, while a separate photograph captures him reaching out to stroke a white rabbit.
Taken on March 29, 2023, the photograph shows Delia McInerney in a bright orange jumper cuddling one of her guinea pigs
George Gordon stands beside one of the animal cages on December 12, 2023
On April 9, 2023, Ms McInerney was photographed holding the rabbit, which was wrapped in a white towel
The animals included five guinea pigs in different colours and a white lop-eared rabbit.
A separate photograph from April 2023 shows McInerney cradling the rabbit in her arms while it is wrapped in a white towel.
Giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, Gordon’s cousin John Lawler, who was also a friend of McInerney, described her as a woman who loved travel and animals.
After Covid restrictions began to ease in 2021, she told him she planned to travel to Australia to join a man she had met online, he said.
Lawler later lost touch with McInerney in about 2022 and assumed she was living illegally in Australia.
He also lost contact with Gordon until 2025, when Gordon unexpectedly asked him to help clean his flat.
“He was coming up with fantasies,” Lawler told the jury.
“She’d gone to Australia to meet this man Rene. Then she ran away with his girlfriend to New Zealand.
A March 2023 photograph shows Gordon reaching out to stroke a white rabbit
Gordon smiles beside a stack of cages containing some of McInerney’s pets in March 2023
“The girlfriend’s parents in New Zealand were mega rich. This is what he told me.”
Lawler added: “He just kept fantasising about where she was. She was here, she was there, she was moving on everywhere.”
The jury also heard that Gordon claimed McInerney had a farm in Cornwall, a story he reportedly told Lawler only weeks before his arrest.
Other places Gordon allegedly said she had travelled to included Mexico, Peru and Denmark.
During cross-examination by Gordon Cole KC, Lawler said Gordon, who had lived with him for two years after leaving prison in 2013, told him: “Delia’s stole all my money.”
Lawler said McInerney was affectionate towards Gordon and would give him a “big kiss on the cheek” whenever he cooked for her.
He rejected the suggestion that McInerney had been in control of Gordon, describing him as “exceptionally generous” and someone who appeared to enjoy spending money.
McInerney had shouted at Gordon only because he was “accident prone”, Lawler added.
The pets included five guinea pigs of different colours and a white lop-eared rabbit
Prosecutors allege that, shortly before the killing, Gordon bought a sledgehammer and a cordless handsaw—tools they say were “consistent” with the way McInerney died.
He also purchased a copy of the surgical reference book Gray’s Anatomy.
After McInerney’s death, Gordon allegedly withdrew thousands of pounds from her bank accounts and fraudulently secured credit cards and loans in her name.
The prosecution further claims that, for 18 months, he impersonated McInerney in phone messages and emails to her friends and relatives, while spreading “lies” about where she was.
Jurors heard on Thursday that Gordon had spoken “a lot” to his niece Paula Tillman about McInerney after allegedly killing her.
Giving evidence, Tillman said: “He was always talking about Delia, that he loved her and missed her.”
Gordon allegedly told Tillman that McInerney had moved to Australia and begun a relationship with a woman. He also claimed to have acted as their “sperm donor”, enabling them to have a child together.
Tillman described her uncle as “a bit of a hoarder” and said he kept “lots of animals” in his flat.
She told the court that the property had a “stench” coming from it.
Tillman also said Gordon once told her that McInerney had struck him on the head with a frying pan, leaving him in need of hospital treatment.
Despite that, she said McInerney seemed to be a “nice woman” and described Gordon as being “like a giant teddy bear”.
Gordon, who was in the dock after being absent from court on Wednesday, began to cry and wiped tears from his eyes.
The jury heard that residents at Gordon’s block of flats knew him as “Mr Parcel” because he would accept deliveries for neighbours when they were out.
He allegedly told neighbour Taylor Johnson that he and McInerney had “not long had a baby” and that she was “pregnant with another” after having her eggs frozen.
Prosecutors allege that Gordon’s “web of lies” began to unravel in December 2025, when a council official contacted benefits staff with concerns about McInerney’s welfare, prompting a safeguarding investigation.
The inquiry led police to Gordon, who jurors have heard has a previous fraud conviction.
When officers arrived at his flat in January this year, he allegedly told them: “She’s in the freezer.”
Gordon has admitted offences involving the concealment of McInerney’s body and fraudulent financial activity following her death.
He denies murder and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The trial continues.
