Woman jailed for life for murdering pal in sex row
AWOMAN who murdered her friend and dismembered her body after demanding a sexual relationship with her has been jailed for life.
Gareeca Gordon, 28, will serve at least 23 and a half years’ imprisonment after she stabbed Phoenix Netts to death in April last year.
After inflicting four stab wounds to Ms Netts’ chest and torso, Gordon left her to die while refusing to call the emergency services. She may have lived for another 12 hours, a court heard.
The defendant then purchased a circular saw, which she used to cut Ms Netts’ body into six pieces at the property they shared in Lozells, Birmingham, Bristol Crown Court heard.
She then set about deceiving her friends and family through text messages, emails and voice messages that Ms Netts was still alive and had moved to London.
Gordon was arrested near Coleford in the Forest of Dean at about 11pm on May 12 last year, with officers finding her beside a quarry with two suitcases found to contain the remains of Ms Netts, 28.
Andrew Smith QC, prosecuting, told the court Gordon had previously demanded sex with Ms Netts and became “aggressive” when she said no. Ms Netts last phoned a friend in the early hours of April 16 but when he tried to ring her back later that day he did not get through.
Her phone was used to make internet searches including “how to fix punctured lung”, “internal bleeding” and “can someone recover from getting stabbed” between 1.04pm and 3.07pm that day, the court heard.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Netts would not have died had she received prompt medical attention.
The court was told another woman living in the shared accommodation heard noises of drilling and banging in the early hours of April 16, as well as shouts of “help me, help me”.
After dismembering Ms Netts’s body, Gordon made several trips to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and attempted to burn her remains in woodland, the court heard.
Gordon was arrested on May 12 last year after police on a routine patrol stopped a car in the area during the coronavirus lockdown and discovered the defendant with two suitcases.
At an earlier hearing Gordon had pleaded guilty to murder.
Andrew Langdon QC, defending, said Gordon’s mother had written a letter to the judge saying she was “eternally sorry” for what her daughter had done.
Jailing Gordon for life, Mrs Justice Cutts described her as a “very dangerous young woman”.