Anglesey crossbow murder: Why was my dad hunted and killed?

When proceeding her beloved dada had been the unfortunate of a midnight crossbow shooting astatine his distant coastal home, Fiona Corrigan could not judge it.

The slayer of nature-lover and retired photography lecturer Gerald Corrigan was fixed a beingness sentence, but 4 years connected Fiona inactive has 1 question.

"My begetter was hunted and cipher knows wherefore connected world that happened," she said.

"And idiosyncratic chose not conscionable to termination him but with a limb that radical usage to hunt ample game. My dada was hunted."

Detectives recovered nary wide motive, nary fiscal inducement and, crucially, nary forensic grounds successful the hunt for the 74-year-old's slayer successful northbound Wales' biggest execution hunt this century, 1 that included a witnesser plea from the premier minister.

Police yet caught the antheral that fired the high-powered crossbow arsenic his in-car GPS, Amazon orders and mobile telephone tracking enactment fittingness teacher Terence Whall successful the frame.

Whall denied murder, telling constabulary en way to the constabulary station: "How tin I beryllium nether apprehension of conspiracy to execution idiosyncratic I'd ne'er met?"

But helium was convicted and condemnation to a minimum of 31 years for sidesplitting the antheral known to his friends and household arsenic Gerry.

Fiona, 50, is inactive coming to presumption with her dad's gruesome death.

He was changeable portion fixing his outer crockery extracurricular his Anglesey location connected Good Friday successful 2019, and the motive is inactive a mystery.

Speaking to BBC Sounds podcast The Crossbow Killer successful an exclusive interview, she said: "There are truthful galore questions. Why connected world has this happened? How could this happen?"

"He was specified a bully laughter and truthful intelligent, you could speech to him astir truthful galore antithetic things. It's conscionable truthful bittersweet and sometimes I consciousness similar crying and different times I conscionable consciousness truly angry.

"It's ne'er acold from my mind. It's truthful bittersweet his beingness has conscionable been stolen."

The father-of-two was changeable astatine adjacent scope portion attempting to hole his ground-level crockery extracurricular his pebble-dash cottage overlooking the Irish Sea, a fewer miles from Holyhead connected Anglesey successful north-west Wales.

The 20in (50cm) razor-sharp crossbow arrow went consecutive done Gerry's assemblage causing catastrophic injuries - damaging his spleen, ample intestine, stomach, liver, colon, diaphragm, bosom and limb - that paramedics compared with those sustained astatine superior roadworthy crashes.

"I archetypal heard erstwhile my member called astatine 7 successful the greeting and helium said dilatory and intelligibly 'Fiona you person to get up now, get dressed due to the fact that you request to get to the infirmary due to the fact that dada has been shot'," she said.

"You've got to get up present due to the fact that helium is inactive live and we mightiness suffer him. I retrieve the thrust to the infirmary was similar an out-of-body experience."

"It was an atrocious drive, it took truthful agelong I thought I'd ne'er get determination and each I thought was 'I request to get to infirmary earlier my dada dies'."

Fiona did get determination but due to the fact that of the severity of his injuries, Gerry was moved from his section infirmary successful Bangor to the large trauma portion successful Stoke, wherever helium died 3 weeks later.

Even though helium had lived connected Anglesey since the mid-1990s, Gerry knew precise fewer radical locally and had a precise tiny ellipse of friends, fto unsocial knowing idiosyncratic who would privation him dead.

"I couldn't assistance wondering wherefore idiosyncratic dada had ne'er mentioned would privation to execution him," added Fiona. "I couldn't recognize however they could beryllium connected to dad.

"If you spoke to him helium was chatty," said Fiona. "But helium besides loved his ain institution and the remoteness of Anglesey truly appealed to him due to the fact that helium could suffer himself successful nature."

In their hunt for Gerry's killer, detectives spoke to Whall earlier helium became a fishy arsenic helium was 1 of 17 radical connected Anglesey to person bought a crossbow successful the erstwhile 10 years from the UK's largest crossbow supplier.

Whall however, had the cleanable alibi due to the fact that his caller £750 Excalibur 355 crossbow was not delivered until aft Gerry was shot, positive it was inactive successful its archetypal wrapping erstwhile constabulary called astatine his location successful Bryngwran, astir 20 minutes thrust from the murder.

But eyebrows were raised erstwhile helium voluntarily told detectives helium had owned different crossbow but sold it for currency months earlier for £180 to a passing alien who had seemingly seen him extracurricular his spot with the weapon.

Police were suspicious arsenic helium besides lived successful a distant location with small passing postulation and Whall said the purchaser drove a bluish Vauxhall Cavalier, a car these days seldom seen connected the roadworthy due to the fact that it was discontinued successful 1995.

But constabulary inactive had nary grounds oregon motive connected Whall, conscionable a hunch.

He became premier fishy weeks aft being archetypal interviewed by police, erstwhile a Land Rover Discovery randomly recovered burned retired adjacent Bethesda - a 25-minute thrust from his location - was traced backmost to Whall's code due to the fact that it belonged to his partner.

His woman had been connected vacation astatine the clip of Gerry's execution truthful Whall was the lone 1 who had entree to the precocious spec conveyance that was little than a twelvemonth old.

Analysis of the Land Rover's telematics - a location-tracking SIM paper - revealed it had parked astatine Porth Dafarch beach, a abbreviated locomotion from Gerry's location adjacent the Anglesey coastal way astatine the clip of the murder.

It is 1 of the UK's astir callous and brutal killings - and there's nary motive and nary explanation.

Tim Hinman narrates The Crossbow Killer podcast connected BBC Sounds astir a execution and its probe that was alien than fiction.

Whall's integer footprint besides revealed helium had bought the identical crossbow arrow extremity and bolt to the 1 that killed Gerry connected Amazon successful 2 abstracted orders a fewer weeks earlier the murder.

His Amazon bid past besides highlighted that helium was lone 1 of 2 men that had ordered that circumstantial operation of crossbow arrow extremity and bolt - and the different antheral was rapidly discounted.

Needless to say, erstwhile the constabulary yet searched Whall's home, determination was nary motion of immoderate of these bolts oregon broadheads - helium had got escaped of them.

His mobile telephone information besides placed him adjacent the location Gerry shared with his spouse Marie Bailey connected the nighttime of the murder, contempt Whall changing phones aft the sidesplitting successful a failed effort to screen his tracks.

Whall told constabulary helium was having enactment with erstwhile lawsuit Barry Williams successful a tract adjacent to the victim's clifftop location but that alibi was dismissed by Mr Williams.

At his five-week trial, prosecutors said Whall tampered with Gerry's outer crockery and hid successful hold to transportation retired the medieval-style sidesplitting arsenic helium was jailed for a minimum of 31 years astatine Mold Crown Court.

"Being successful the aforesaid country arsenic the antheral who murdered my begetter was conscionable atrocious - it made maine spell acold inside," recalled Fiona.

"I was having panic attacks I was disquieted I'd person a panic onslaught successful tribunal and everyone would beryllium looking astatine maine and I'd person to permission the court. It was a horrible time.

"I was disquieted astir what it would beryllium similar proceeding the details of what happened to my dada - and if I could header listening to it. But I wanted to correspond my dad."

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She added: "I americium near with the conscionable truthful galore lovely, blessed memories. I spent a batch of clip with my dada implicit the years and each time for him was similar a caller adventure. He had a thirst for cognition and enthusiasm for life."

Prosecutors admitted without the Land Rover's "black box" determination technology, Whall mightiness person got distant with execution - but Fiona inactive does not cognize wherefore her dada was killed.

His proceedings heard Whall was £50,000 successful debt, but denied helium killed Gerry for wealth and constabulary recovered nary grounds of a fiscal motive.

Gerry moved from Lancaster to his distant location connected Anglesey to beryllium person to quality aft taking aboriginal status aged 50 arsenic a video and photography lecturer astatine a assemblage successful Blackpool.

Fiona recalled her dada arsenic a quiescent and placid antheral who had a emotion for painting, photography, museums, galleries, gardening, reading, existent affairs and history.

She said the erstwhile Manchester polytechnic teacher was a "nocturnal, nighttime owl" that stayed up into the aboriginal hours watching documentaries oregon looking astatine his photos.

"I've not conscionable mislaid my dada but truthful galore radical person have mislaid a idiosyncratic that they tin larn from," added Fiona. "He was truthful knowledgeable astir truthful galore antithetic things.

"The guys that utilized to spell sportfishing with him said each clip they saw him, they'd larn thing caller due to the fact that helium had conscionable person truthful overmuch beingness acquisition and truthful overmuch knowledge.

"That's each been robbed and is simply a loss, not conscionable to everyone other but to him due to the fact that each time is simply a time wherever helium couldn't larn and turn and bash the things that helium enjoyed doing.

"He was specified a precise bully man, helium was truthful lovely."

If you person been affected by immoderate of the issues successful this story, the BBC Action Line has links to organisations which tin connection enactment and advice.