Martial arts expert found guilty of pensioner’s crossbow murder

On Monday, a jury at Mold Crown Court convicted Terence Whall, 39, of killing Gerald Corrigan, 74, who was fatally injured as he adjusted a satellite dish outside his home in Anglesey, North Wales, in the early hours of Good Friday, April 19, last year.

Martial arts expert Whall and co-defendant Gavin Jones, 36, were also convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for plotting to set fire to Whall’s Land Rover Discovery.

Jurors were told they may never know why Mr Corrigan was murdered but heard that the pensioner and his partner, Marie Bailey, 64, had previously handed over £250,000 to convicted fraudster Richard Wyn Lewis.

On May 31, Whall and Jones were arrested at the Anglesey home of Mr Lewis, who remains under investigation, following an incident which the jury heard was a dispute over money.

Peter Rouch QC, prosecuting, said Whall’s association with Mr Lewis “may be of significance” but David Elias QC, defending Whall, said there was no evidence linking the two before the shooting.

Whall, a twice-married tai chi instructor from east London, denied ever meeting Mr Corrigan, who died in hospital on May 11.

But the court heard that he hid outside the father-of-two’s remote home and waited for him to leave after the Sky signal was interfered with.

The crossbow bolt passed through the pensioner’s body, causing serious internal injuries and bruising his heart before shattering a bone in his arm as it left his body.

Whall’s movements on the night of the shooting were revealed by the GPS system from his state-of-the-art car, which was found burnt out in a disused quarry on June 3.

Information recovered from Jaguar Land Rover showed the car had been in the area of Mr Corrigan’s home, near South Stack, at the time of the shooting and on the previous night, when the prosecution allege Whall was “scoping out” the property.

Whall initially told police he was at home on the night Mr Corrigan was shot but, when the GPS showed he was not, he said he was in the area because he was having a sexual encounter with friend Barry Williams.

Mr Williams denied the claims.

Partway through the trial, which lasted more than four weeks, Jones’s brother, Darren Jones, 41, and his friend, Martin Roberts, 34, pleaded guilty to the arson of the Land Rover Discovery.

Whall admitted owning a crossbow but told police he had sold it months before the killing and a new one he ordered online was not delivered until after the shooting.

The jury was told he had ordered crossbow bolts and broadheads identical to the one used to shoot Mr Corrigan in the months leading up to the shooting.

A punchbag, with holes in which suggested it had been used for target practice, was seized from the home Whall shared with partner Emma Roberts in Bryngwran, Anglesey.

Mr Corrigan was effectively a carer for Ms Bailey, who had MS, and moved to Anglesey more than 20 years ago after retiring from his job as a lecturer in photography and video in Lancashire.