OAP, 74, ‘died when crossbow bolt passed through his body in targeted hit after killer lay in wait’
A PENSIONER died after being shot with a “high-powered” crossbow in a targeted hit carried out by a killer who hid in his garden, a court heard today.
A jury at Mold Crown Court were told that Gerald Corrigan, 74, was “callously” shot with the weapon in the middle of the night after he went outside to fix his satellite dish.
The attack happened outside his home in a remote part of Holyhead in Anglesey, North Wales, when he was hit by the crossbow bolt in what the prosecution alleges was a planned killing.
Sports therapist Terence Whall, 39, denies murdering the retired lecturer, who was shot at around 12.30am on Good Friday, April 19, last year.
Peter Rouch QC, prosecuting, said Mr Corrigan, known as Gerry, left the house to adjust his satellite dish, which was at ground level in his front garden, after the signal was interrupted.
He said: “When he left his home to look at the Sky dish, there was someone waiting outside, in the dark, armed with a high-powered crossbow.
‘TARGETED ATTACK’
“A crossbow, members of the jury, is a silent, quick and deadly weapon.
“The person waiting, probably hiding behind a wall, fired a crossbow bolt at Gerald Corrigan.”
Mr Rouch said Mr Corrigan, who thought he had been electrocuted by the Sky dish, went back into the house and shouted for his partner Marie Bailey, 64, who was in bed.
When paramedic Richard Alwyn Roberts arrived he found the garden gate was open and a crossbow bolt, covered in blood, was lying on the grass.
‘CROSSBOW KILLER’
Mr Corrigan died in hospital on May 11 as a result of multiple organ failure caused by the injury.
The court heard that a Land Rover Discovery belonging to Whall’s partner Emma Roberts was found burnt out on June 3, two weeks after the sports therapist was questioned by police about his possession of crossbows.
GPS information retained by Jaguar Land Rover showed that on the night of April 17 it had travelled to the driveway of Mr Corrigan’s home and then to nearby Porthdafach beach, in what Mr Rouch alleged was a “reconnaissance” before the killing.
However, when asked about two phone calls, made on April 18 and 19, which placed him close the victim’s house – Mr Whall claimed he was having an affair with another man and was arranging to have sex on a coastal path in the area.
On the night of the attack, the car was driven from Whall’s home to the beach, where it remained for an hour and a half until 12.42am, about 12 minutes after Mr Corrigan was shot, the court heard.
The system showed the boot was opened and closed when the car arrived and before it left.
Mr Rouch alleged the suspect had walked from the beach to Mr Corrigan’s home, called Gof Du.
He said: “Once at Gof Du he prepared himself to shoot and kill Mr Corrigan.
“He interrupted the satellite signal, maybe by just interfering with the Sky dish, and, hiding behind the wall, waited for Mr Corrigan to exit his house.
“When he did so, he callously shot him.”
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The court heard that Whall had owned two crossbows – however he claimed he sold one to a stranger earlier in 2019 and the second, bought online in April 2019, was not delivered until after the shooting.
Whall, of Bryngwran in Anglesey, and co-defendants Darren Jones, 41, Martin Roberts, 34, and Gavin Jones, 36, deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy to commit arson.
The alleged crossbow killer claimed the car had been stolen before it was found burnt out.
Roberts and Darren Jones deny arson.