GUILTY OF MURDER
Crossbow killer faces life sentence for fatal shooting of 74-yr-old as victim’s family ask... why?
A PERSONAL trainer who shot a pensioner with a crossbow so powerful it could slay a bear is facing years behind bars after being found guilty of murder.
Terence Michael Whall, 39, was convicted by a jury of the murder of 74-year-old Gerald Corrigan, after a trial lasting just over a month.
Whall, a martial arts expert and fitness instructor, lay in wait outside Mr Corrigan’s remote farmhouse at Gof Du, near South Stack, Holyhead, Anglesey, in the early hours of Good Friday last year.
When retired photography lecturer Mr Corrigan noticed the reception on his satellite dish had been interrupted, he went outside to investigate.
It was then that Whall shot Mr Corrigan with a powerful crossbow, firing a bolt right through the pensioner’s body and causing devastating internal injuries.
He died of his wounds around a fortnight later.
Whall, of Bryngwran, Anglesey, denied the charge, and claimed the only reason he had been near Mr Corrigan’s home in the early hours of April 19 last year was to carry out a sexual encounter with another man, Barry Williams.
During his trial he repeatedly claimed he was carrying on an affair with Mr Williams.
But on Monday, after two days of deliberation, the jury at Mold Crown Court returned its verdict that Whall had fired the fatal shot that killed the pensioner. The decision was unanimous.
The jury also found Whall’s coaccused, 36-year-old Gavin Jones, guilty of conspiring with Whall to pervert the course of justice.
Whall’s Land Rover was found burned out during the course of the investigation. Whall told police it had been stolen but police found Whall still had both keys to the vehicle, which belonged to his partner. They also discovered he owned a crossbow, had been seen using one for target practice, and had bought the very same bolts that were used to inflict the mortal wounds on Mr Corrigan.
Mr Williams, who Whall had claimed to be having a sexual encounter with at the time of Mr Corrigan’s murder, said he had been asked by Whall to provide him with an alibi, and when he went to a meeting with Whall’s solicitors, he was asked to go along with a story that the pair had been in a sexual relationship.
He also testified he had been given information by Whall’s lawyers about the location of the Land Rover and a bag containing baby oil, lubricant and a sex toy.
Whall repeatedly denied suggestions that he had fabricated the story.
He said he initially lied to police, claiming he was at his partner’s home at the time of the shooting, to conceal the truth about his gay affair.
On Monday, after more than four weeks of evidence, the jury decided it did not believe Whall’s claims to have had nothing to do with Mr Corrigan’s death. They were also satisfied that Gavin Jones, of High Street, Bangor, had conspired with Whall to pervert the course of justice. Two other men, Jones’ brother Darren, 41, of The Bryn Ogwen Estate, Penrhosgarnedd, and his friend Martin Roberts, 34, of James Street, Bangor, pleaded guilty to arson in relation to the burned out Land Rover a week into the trial.
Judge Lady Justice Nerys Jefford said the four men will be sentenced on Friday. As a convicted murderer, Whall faces a mandatory life term, but Judge Jefford said she needed to consider the minimum term he should face before his jail sentence is passed.