Gordon Park
Encyclopedia
The Lady in the Lake trial was a 2005 murder case in which Gordon Park (25 January 1944 – 25 January 2010) a retired teacher from Leece
, near Barrow-in-Furness
, Cumbria
, was jailed for life for the murder of his first wife, Carol Ann Park, in 1976.
Carol Park went missing on 17 July 1976, and was never seen alive again by her family. In 1997, her body was discovered at the bottom of Coniston Water
and Gordon was arrested on suspicion of murder. The charges were subsequently dropped but in 2004 Gordon was arrested again and found guilty of his wife's murder. The trial judge sentenced him to life imprisonment and recommended that he should serve a minimum of 15 years before being considered for parole. He was held at Garth prison
, Leyland, Preston. In December 2007 he lodged an appeal against his conviction which was dismissed in November 2008. On 25 January 2010, he was found hanged in his cell, and pronounced dead at the scene.
The details of the murder are sketchy. Carol was killed by her face being smashed by a blunt object of some sort, alleged in court to have been an ice axe
. She was then bound with rope, using complex knots, weighed down with rocks and lead piping and thrown overboard from a boat on Coniston Water. The body landed on an underwater ledge where it was later found by amateur divers. Had it landed a few metres further from the shore, it would probably never have been discovered.
There was a great deal of controversy surrounding the case. Gordon received much support from his family and friends and maintained his innocence. There was a large amount of local interest in the trial as shown by the sales of the local paper, the North-West Evening Mail
. Some claimed that much of the evidence against him could be discounted and there were vigils and petitions in attempts to free Gordon from prison and clear his name. The case featured prominently in the book No Smoke – The Shocking Truth About British Justice which outlined seven cases the author believed to be examples of innocent people being convicted of murder.
twice before. It was for this reason, Gordon claimed, that he did not report her missing for six weeks. Carol was said to time her periods away from home to coincide with the school holidays. Gordon claimed that it wasn't until she didn't return in time to take up her job as a primary school teacher in September (the start of the school term) that he realised that there was a problem. At this time he reported her missing via his solicitor, and her family was informed. On the day she vanished, the family had been due to visit Blackpool on a day trip. However, Carol said she felt unwell and wanted to remain behind in bed. She was never seen alive again by her family. Gordon claimed he returned home to find Carol had left the house, leaving behind her wedding ring, and that there was no sign of a struggle. A missing persons enquiry was launched, but nothing came of it. This missing persons report was subsequently lost, and it was implied by some that the fact both Gordon and a senior police commander (who, by the time the article was published, had died) involved in the case were freemasons had contributed to this. This was refuted by Sandra Lean, who, in No Smoke, claimed that Gordon had never been a freemason. At the time, police told Gordon that, should a body be found, he would be the main suspect.
. She was nicknamed "the Lady in the Lake" by detectives after the 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler
, The Lady in the Lake
. The body had been wrapped in a pinafore
dress, a canvas rucksack and plastic bags, tied with several knots, and weighed down with lead piping. Her eyes had been covered by plasters. It was later reported that the body had landed on an underwater ledge, and had it been thrown into the water a few metres farther from the land, it would probably never have been found.
Details of Carol's death were revealed in the post mortem. There were severe injuries to the skull, and it was said that her face had been smashed by multiple blows. It was later found in court that the murder weapon had been an ice axe
. The body was found to be in a foetal position, which suggested that the body had been dealt with within a few hours of death, before rigor mortis
could settle in. It has since been said that the investigators failed to acknowledge that rigor mortis passes in a 24–48 hour time period, and that the body could feasibly have been trussed once rigor mortis had passed. Many unusual knots were used to tie the body, and the same knots were said to be used in Gordon Park's house and boat. This was one of the key pieces of evidence used against Gordon in the trial.
. However, after two weeks, his solicitors managed to persuade the court to grant him bail
. On 6 January 1998, the charges against Gordon were dropped due to lack of evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service
released a statement saying-
After the charges were dropped, Gordon said that he wished to "try to put all this, including the events of 21 years ago, behind me and try to return to my everyday life". However, the fact that the charges were dropped angered Carol's brother, Ivor Price, who said that he was disgusted by the way that Carol was portrayed in the proceedings, and talked of how Carol was not "someone who [was] cheap or had a string of lovers."
green slate
, a stone that matched the rocks that made up the wall of the family's bungalow. The case was brought to trial at Manchester
Crown Court
, and lasted ten weeks. There was no single piece of evidence that pointed to Gordon indisputably, but the prosecution argued that when the evidence was placed together, it could only point at Park, and not a "mysterious stranger or secret lover". Primarily, the case for the prosecution rested on circumstantial evidence
, with the jury being asked to consider knots, rocks used to weight down the body and the ice axe, all linking Gordon Park to the crime. However, the statements of Michael Wainwright, and another of Gordon's cellmates, who had learning difficulties, were also used as evidence by the prosecution. He was sentenced to be jailed for life, and told that he must serve at least 15 years. The judge said that he had taken into account the "terrible concealment" of the body.
The court found that Gordon had first put his hands around Carol's neck to strangle her, but that she had struggled. He then grabbed his ice axe, and brought it down with what was described as "considerable" force on Carol's face, and smashed the front right-hand side of her face, splitting open her head and smashing her teeth. He then did this again – the attack was described as consisting of "two big heavy, crushing blows" by pathologist
Dr. Edwin Tapp. After this, Gordon dumped his wife's body in the lake, and went back to his day-to-day life. During the trial, the prosecution speculated that Gordon had "drugged his wife, possibly on or around the 17 July, tied her up and stored her body in a chest freezer before dumping it in Coniston Water".
Representing Park in the appeal was solicitor Rob Rode and Simon Bourne-Arton QC
. They did not initially reveal what the new evidence was, only that it "was not available at the original trial" and that it was "very strong and significant". Cumbria Constabulary
released a statement saying:
In October, campaigners in support of Park said "We have in our possession, a signed, witnessed, statement, made this week, by one of the main prosecution witnesses, stating, ‘police officers did put words in my mouth regarding Gordon Park’ and ‘the police told me what to say in court.’" Pastor George Harrison, acting as a spokesperson for the campaigners, also claimed that the appeals process was flawed and "rendered virtually impossible" due to costs.
In November 2008, the appeal bid was rejected by three judges at the Court of Appeal
in London. QC
Simon Bourne, representing Park, had wanted to call an expert witness to challenge geological evidence used at the trial. Lord Justice Keene said that the new evidence did not raise "a reasonable doubt as to the safety of this conviction", saying that the geological evidence was only a small element of the "strong circumstantial case against the applicant". The new evidence presented by geologist Andrew Moncrief concerned the rock found with the body, said to have been from the wall outside the Parks' house. Moncrief argued that the rock was "indistinguishable" from others in the area, and therefore "meaningless".
, and pronounced dead at the scene later in the morning. It is believed that a ligature
was involved, and that Park inflicted the injuries upon himself. Park had not been assessed for the risk of suicide
. Jeremy Park said that "we are all completely devastated and still believe his innocence 100%."
, when it ran special editions on the case. Park maintained his innocence, and received much support from his family and friends. His children, Jeremy and Rachael, appointed a new legal team in an attempt to find grounds for appeal
. Jeremy also set up a website, www.freegordon.com, in a bid to raise awareness and support of the case for Gordon. Notable individuals offering support include Tony Benn
, who said that there was considerable doubt about Gordon's conviction, and that he would do all he can to help campaign for his freedom. Benn has been quoted as saying the case is a "grave injustice". He is one of the over 300 people who have signed the "Gordon Park is Innocent" petition.
A year into Park's life sentence, around 40 family members and friends held a vigil
at Strangeways Prison, in a bid to raise awareness of "the fact that there is an innocent man in prison". Another was held a year later, led by Jenny Park, and a third on the third anniversary of Park's imprisonment. It was due to these vigils, claimed Evangelical
Pastor George Harrison, that he was barred from visiting Park once he was transferred to Garth prison, in Lancashire. Other fronts for the campaign included an offer of £
5,000 for anyone providing evidence that lead to Gordon's freedom. Included in this were planned adverts in the North-West Evening Mail
and leaflets to 20,000 homes in the Furness
area. However, this was being organised by Harrison, with whom Gordon and his third wife Jennifer stayed during the trial. Jeremy Park wrote to the North-West Evening Mail to confirm that he wanted nothing to do with the reward, and that Harrison had no right to include his name, contact details or email address, or mention the freegordon website, in the adverts. Subsequently, Harrison claimed to have delivered 6,000 booklets and leaflets in the Furness area.
Not everyone with a link to the family supported Gordon's attempts to clear his name. Vanessa Fisher, Park's adoptive daughter, appeared as a witness for the prosecution at the trial, telling of how her father would hit the children with "a stick or cane" and how he would not discuss his wife's disappearance. She was not in court at the time of Park's sentencing. Ivor Price, Carol's brother, has spoken publicly at various times about his feelings about Gordon, and the Price family even sat away from Park's supporters during the trial itself. In a statement shortly after Park's guilty verdict, he said he had "no doubt" that justice had been done, and added that "Carol was a lovely, bubbly girl who was very clever and intelligent. What has been said about her has been heartbreaking. This was about one thing: justice for Carol." Around the same time, Price said that although he believed Gordon at the time of Carol's disappearance, upon the news of a body being found in Coniston Water, he "knew it was her, and knew who had done it", expressing his conviction of Park's guilt. More recently, he said that he was "distressed" by the ongoing campaign to free Park. After Park's unsuccessful appeal, Price's daughters, Kay Washford and Claire Gardener spoke to the North-West Evening Mail, their parents having died before the appeal was rejected. Washford said "It is brilliant, an amazing result. Our mum and dad Ivor and Maureen Price fought hard for this justice and now they can rest in peace because justice has been done. We are so thankful for the result and so glad he will be staying in there." She added that "It is finally justice for Carol." The Park family and Cumbria Constabulary did not comment.
on October 12, 2005, at the request of Jeremy, though it was not written by him. Bob Woffenden, the author, later wrote an article for Inside Time
, in December 2006, talking about the trial and its controversies. Another similar article, pointing out holes in the evidence, was published in the Sunday Herald
, on July 23, 2006.
smoker and admitted to hearing voices. He claimed that Gordon had said that he went upstairs, found Carol in bed with another man, and killed her in a fit of rage. This seemed unlikely, as the Parks lived in a bungalow
, and the supposed lover has never come forward. Park also claimed to have never actually met Wainwright.
Joan Young, who was the only first-hand witness, is challenged in both articles. She came forward in 2004, claiming that she had seen someone push something over the side of a boat on Coniston Water. This testimony is challenged, because so much time has passed and the fact that her husband saw nothing. However, he claims to have been reading his paper at the time. Also, it has been said that Young was too far away to identify the person in the boat, and that it couldn't have been Carol Park's body that was being dumped, as the Youngs were positioned so that the location Carol's body was found would have been visibly blocked by an island. The article even points out that Young described a boat that appeared to be a cruiser yacht
. Despite the fact that Gordon did own a large yacht
in 1997, in 1976 he owned only a 505 racing dinghy
, which he sold later that year.
There are three witnesses who provide direct evidence supporting the idea that Park was innocent. The first, a neighbour, claims that they saw Carol at the bottom of her driveway. A second, another neighbour, claims that they saw an unidentified man in a Volkswagen Beetle
in the Parks' drive for twenty minutes. The presence of the unidentified car has never been accounted for. Around 6pm that night, another witness, a woman who knew Carol, saw her at Charnock Richard services
. She mentioned the fact that Carol had not greeted her to her husband, describing her as "snobby".
Two more issues are addressed in the Sunday Herald article, but not in the Daily Mail article. The first is of the knots used to tie up Carol's body – the knots on Carol's body were mostly granny knot
s, of which there was no evidence that Gordon ever used – indeed during the trial he was specifically asked this, and he responded, "I do not use granny knots". The granny knot is always a mistake, used by someone who should have used a reef knot; those learning knot-tying frequently make this mistake. Gordon Park, an experienced knot-tyer, would likely never use a granny knot, and their frequent appearance on the body of Carol is strong evidence that it was not Gordon who tied them. The article also claims that the evidence of knots was irrelevant anyway, as climbers and yachtsmen were so common in the area. The other piece of evidence related to another rock taken from the lakebed, which had supposedly come from the Parks' roof. However, the prosecution eventually admitted that Westmoreland green slate
had been worked in the area for hundreds of years, and could have come from anywhere. The Herald also mentions the fact that the police files from the original missing persons inquiry into Carol Park had gone missing themselves, but does not draw any conclusions from this.
Both articles address the issue of who the killer could alternatively have been, and both of them mention Carol's other lovers, and John Rapson, responsible for murdering Carol's sister. Both of the articles mention that he was in the Barrow area around the time of the murder, but both of them are careful to point out that they are not accusing him of being the murderer.
Park remarried twice after Carol was murdered. His second wife was named Catherine, and his third, to whom he remained married until his death, is named Jenny. Park met all of his wives through teaching, Carol was a teacher at Askam Village School when she was killed. When rejecting Park's request for appeal, Lord Justice Keene, Mr Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Macduff noted that both Gordon and Carol had had affairs in the year leading up to Carol's disappearance.
Park's interests included sailing and climbing, which was relevant to the case due to the knots used to tie his wife's body. While in prison, Park spent time practising t'ai chi, taking a maths degree and keeping fit.
In an exclusive written interview with The Westmorland Gazette
nine months into his sentence, Park talked of how he had struggled with prison, saying: "They [other inmates] may smoke incessantly, play loud music, the TV or video games, rifle your drawers, steal, lie etc. There is not a lot you can do about it... I watched a guy "chasing the dragon
". It frightened me to death. I had never seen that before." He refused to answer detailed questions about the trial or case, but protested his innocence, saying "If I knew who killed my wife, how, where, why, then I would have said so. I did not know then. I do not know now."
Leece
Leece is a village on the Furness peninsula of South Lakeland in Cumbria, England, situated between the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness...
, near Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, was jailed for life for the murder of his first wife, Carol Ann Park, in 1976.
Carol Park went missing on 17 July 1976, and was never seen alive again by her family. In 1997, her body was discovered at the bottom of Coniston Water
Coniston Water
Coniston Water in Cumbria, England is the third largest lake in the English Lake District. It is five miles long, half a mile wide, has a maximum depth of 184 feet , and covers an area of . The lake has an elevation of 143 feet above sea level...
and Gordon was arrested on suspicion of murder. The charges were subsequently dropped but in 2004 Gordon was arrested again and found guilty of his wife's murder. The trial judge sentenced him to life imprisonment and recommended that he should serve a minimum of 15 years before being considered for parole. He was held at Garth prison
Garth (HM Prison)
HM Prison Garth is a Category B men's prison, located in the village of Ulnes Walton , in Lancashire, England. Garth is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service, and is situated next to HMP Wymott.-History:...
, Leyland, Preston. In December 2007 he lodged an appeal against his conviction which was dismissed in November 2008. On 25 January 2010, he was found hanged in his cell, and pronounced dead at the scene.
The details of the murder are sketchy. Carol was killed by her face being smashed by a blunt object of some sort, alleged in court to have been an ice axe
Ice axe
An ice axe, is a multi-purpose ice and snow tool used by mountaineers both in the ascent and descent of routes which involve frozen conditions. It can be held and employed in a number of different ways, depending on the terrain encountered...
. She was then bound with rope, using complex knots, weighed down with rocks and lead piping and thrown overboard from a boat on Coniston Water. The body landed on an underwater ledge where it was later found by amateur divers. Had it landed a few metres further from the shore, it would probably never have been discovered.
There was a great deal of controversy surrounding the case. Gordon received much support from his family and friends and maintained his innocence. There was a large amount of local interest in the trial as shown by the sales of the local paper, the North-West Evening Mail
North-West Evening Mail
The North-West Evening Mail, known locally as the Evening Mail, is a daily, local newspaper in the United Kingdom, printed every evening. It is based in Barrow-in-Furness....
. Some claimed that much of the evidence against him could be discounted and there were vigils and petitions in attempts to free Gordon from prison and clear his name. The case featured prominently in the book No Smoke – The Shocking Truth About British Justice which outlined seven cases the author believed to be examples of innocent people being convicted of murder.
Carol Park vanishes
Prior to her disappearance, according to her friends, Carol was feeling depressed. She had talked of tracing her biological parents, as she was adopted. On 17 July 1976, she went missing. Gordon claimed that she had left home for another man, and Carol had left their home in LeeceLeece
Leece is a village on the Furness peninsula of South Lakeland in Cumbria, England, situated between the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness...
twice before. It was for this reason, Gordon claimed, that he did not report her missing for six weeks. Carol was said to time her periods away from home to coincide with the school holidays. Gordon claimed that it wasn't until she didn't return in time to take up her job as a primary school teacher in September (the start of the school term) that he realised that there was a problem. At this time he reported her missing via his solicitor, and her family was informed. On the day she vanished, the family had been due to visit Blackpool on a day trip. However, Carol said she felt unwell and wanted to remain behind in bed. She was never seen alive again by her family. Gordon claimed he returned home to find Carol had left the house, leaving behind her wedding ring, and that there was no sign of a struggle. A missing persons enquiry was launched, but nothing came of it. This missing persons report was subsequently lost, and it was implied by some that the fact both Gordon and a senior police commander (who, by the time the article was published, had died) involved in the case were freemasons had contributed to this. This was refuted by Sandra Lean, who, in No Smoke, claimed that Gordon had never been a freemason. At the time, police told Gordon that, should a body be found, he would be the main suspect.
Discovery of body and post mortem results
On 13 August 1997, amateur divers discovered Carol Park's body, clad only in a nightdress, 75 feet down at the bottom of Coniston WaterConiston Water
Coniston Water in Cumbria, England is the third largest lake in the English Lake District. It is five miles long, half a mile wide, has a maximum depth of 184 feet , and covers an area of . The lake has an elevation of 143 feet above sea level...
. She was nicknamed "the Lady in the Lake" by detectives after the 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
, The Lady in the Lake
The Lady in the Lake
The Lady in the Lake is a 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler featuring, as do all his major works, the Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe.-Introduction:...
. The body had been wrapped in a pinafore
Pinafore
A pinafore is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron.Pinafores may be worn by girls as a decorative garment and by both girls and women as a protective apron. A related term is pinafore dress, which is British English for what in American English is known as a jumper dress, i.e...
dress, a canvas rucksack and plastic bags, tied with several knots, and weighed down with lead piping. Her eyes had been covered by plasters. It was later reported that the body had landed on an underwater ledge, and had it been thrown into the water a few metres farther from the land, it would probably never have been found.
Details of Carol's death were revealed in the post mortem. There were severe injuries to the skull, and it was said that her face had been smashed by multiple blows. It was later found in court that the murder weapon had been an ice axe
Ice axe
An ice axe, is a multi-purpose ice and snow tool used by mountaineers both in the ascent and descent of routes which involve frozen conditions. It can be held and employed in a number of different ways, depending on the terrain encountered...
. The body was found to be in a foetal position, which suggested that the body had been dealt with within a few hours of death, before rigor mortis
Rigor mortis
Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate...
could settle in. It has since been said that the investigators failed to acknowledge that rigor mortis passes in a 24–48 hour time period, and that the body could feasibly have been trussed once rigor mortis had passed. Many unusual knots were used to tie the body, and the same knots were said to be used in Gordon Park's house and boat. This was one of the key pieces of evidence used against Gordon in the trial.
Gordon Park is arrested, but charges are dropped
At the time of the discovery of the body, Gordon and his third wife, Jenny, were on a cycling holiday in France. They heard news of the discovery of the body, and are said to have seen footage of the police searching their house. On 24 August, they arrived home, and Gordon was arrested on suspicion of murder at 8.00am the next morning. He was charged with the murder of Carol Park, and remanded in Preston prisonPreston (HM Prison)
HM Prison Preston is a Category B men's prison, located in the St Matthew's area of Preston in Lancashire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...
. However, after two weeks, his solicitors managed to persuade the court to grant him bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. On 6 January 1998, the charges against Gordon were dropped due to lack of evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
released a statement saying-
After a conference with leading counsel and the police, a decision was taken, in agreement with all parties, that there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.
After the charges were dropped, Gordon said that he wished to "try to put all this, including the events of 21 years ago, behind me and try to return to my everyday life". However, the fact that the charges were dropped angered Carol's brother, Ivor Price, who said that he was disgusted by the way that Carol was portrayed in the proceedings, and talked of how Carol was not "someone who [was] cheap or had a string of lovers."
Gordon Park's second arrest and trial
Gordon was again arrested on 13 January 2004. Police said at the time that the murder file had never been closed, and that the arrest followed new leads. These new leads were later reported to be a confession by Michael Wainwright, who claimed to have been a cellmate of Gordon's during his short prison stay in 1997. The police then revisited site where the body was discovered, and found a piece of WestmorlandWestmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
green slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, a stone that matched the rocks that made up the wall of the family's bungalow. The case was brought to trial at Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, and lasted ten weeks. There was no single piece of evidence that pointed to Gordon indisputably, but the prosecution argued that when the evidence was placed together, it could only point at Park, and not a "mysterious stranger or secret lover". Primarily, the case for the prosecution rested on circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
, with the jury being asked to consider knots, rocks used to weight down the body and the ice axe, all linking Gordon Park to the crime. However, the statements of Michael Wainwright, and another of Gordon's cellmates, who had learning difficulties, were also used as evidence by the prosecution. He was sentenced to be jailed for life, and told that he must serve at least 15 years. The judge said that he had taken into account the "terrible concealment" of the body.
The court found that Gordon had first put his hands around Carol's neck to strangle her, but that she had struggled. He then grabbed his ice axe, and brought it down with what was described as "considerable" force on Carol's face, and smashed the front right-hand side of her face, splitting open her head and smashing her teeth. He then did this again – the attack was described as consisting of "two big heavy, crushing blows" by pathologist
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
Dr. Edwin Tapp. After this, Gordon dumped his wife's body in the lake, and went back to his day-to-day life. During the trial, the prosecution speculated that Gordon had "drugged his wife, possibly on or around the 17 July, tied her up and stored her body in a chest freezer before dumping it in Coniston Water".
Gordon Park's appeal
On December 6, 2007, it was reported that Clarion Solicitors, representing Gordon Park, said that they would launch an appeal. In a public statement, they said:The appeal is based upon fresh evidence that was not available at the original trial, it is hoped the conviction will be quashed and a retrial ordered... Upon his conviction, Mr Park's family and friends launched a campaign to clear his name, claiming there was no single piece of evidence that pointed indisputably to him.
Representing Park in the appeal was solicitor Rob Rode and Simon Bourne-Arton QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. They did not initially reveal what the new evidence was, only that it "was not available at the original trial" and that it was "very strong and significant". Cumbria Constabulary
Cumbria Constabulary
Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. It is currently the fifth-largest force in England and Wales in terms of geographic area but one of the smallest in terms of officer numbers. Given the force area's size and population of just under 500,000, it is...
released a statement saying:
Detectives from Cumbria Constabulary carried out a full and thorough investigation and the full facts of the case were presented to the CPSCrown Prosecution ServiceThe Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
. The case was then tried by a jury, where Gordon Park was found guilty of the murder of Carol Park in 1976.
In October, campaigners in support of Park said "We have in our possession, a signed, witnessed, statement, made this week, by one of the main prosecution witnesses, stating, ‘police officers did put words in my mouth regarding Gordon Park’ and ‘the police told me what to say in court.’" Pastor George Harrison, acting as a spokesperson for the campaigners, also claimed that the appeals process was flawed and "rendered virtually impossible" due to costs.
In November 2008, the appeal bid was rejected by three judges at the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
in London. QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
Simon Bourne, representing Park, had wanted to call an expert witness to challenge geological evidence used at the trial. Lord Justice Keene said that the new evidence did not raise "a reasonable doubt as to the safety of this conviction", saying that the geological evidence was only a small element of the "strong circumstantial case against the applicant". The new evidence presented by geologist Andrew Moncrief concerned the rock found with the body, said to have been from the wall outside the Parks' house. Moncrief argued that the rock was "indistinguishable" from others in the area, and therefore "meaningless".
Gordon Park's death
On 25 January 2010, the morning of Park's 66th birthday, he was found hanged and unconscious in his prison cell in Garth PrisonGarth (HM Prison)
HM Prison Garth is a Category B men's prison, located in the village of Ulnes Walton , in Lancashire, England. Garth is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service, and is situated next to HMP Wymott.-History:...
, and pronounced dead at the scene later in the morning. It is believed that a ligature
Ligature (medicine)
In surgery or medical procedure, a ligature consists of a piece of thread tied around an anatomical structure, usually a blood vessel or another hollow structure to shut it off. With a blood vessel the surgeon will clamp the vessel perpendicular to the axis of the artery or vein with a hemostat,...
was involved, and that Park inflicted the injuries upon himself. Park had not been assessed for the risk of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Jeremy Park said that "we are all completely devastated and still believe his innocence 100%."
Support for Park
There was much local interest in the matter, as was shown by the sales of the local paper, the North-West Evening MailNorth-West Evening Mail
The North-West Evening Mail, known locally as the Evening Mail, is a daily, local newspaper in the United Kingdom, printed every evening. It is based in Barrow-in-Furness....
, when it ran special editions on the case. Park maintained his innocence, and received much support from his family and friends. His children, Jeremy and Rachael, appointed a new legal team in an attempt to find grounds for appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
. Jeremy also set up a website, www.freegordon.com, in a bid to raise awareness and support of the case for Gordon. Notable individuals offering support include Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, who said that there was considerable doubt about Gordon's conviction, and that he would do all he can to help campaign for his freedom. Benn has been quoted as saying the case is a "grave injustice". He is one of the over 300 people who have signed the "Gordon Park is Innocent" petition.
A year into Park's life sentence, around 40 family members and friends held a vigil
Vigil
A vigil is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance...
at Strangeways Prison, in a bid to raise awareness of "the fact that there is an innocent man in prison". Another was held a year later, led by Jenny Park, and a third on the third anniversary of Park's imprisonment. It was due to these vigils, claimed Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Pastor George Harrison, that he was barred from visiting Park once he was transferred to Garth prison, in Lancashire. Other fronts for the campaign included an offer of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
5,000 for anyone providing evidence that lead to Gordon's freedom. Included in this were planned adverts in the North-West Evening Mail
North-West Evening Mail
The North-West Evening Mail, known locally as the Evening Mail, is a daily, local newspaper in the United Kingdom, printed every evening. It is based in Barrow-in-Furness....
and leaflets to 20,000 homes in the Furness
Furness
Furness is a peninsula in south Cumbria, England. At its widest extent, it is considered to cover the whole of North Lonsdale, that part of the Lonsdale hundred that is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay....
area. However, this was being organised by Harrison, with whom Gordon and his third wife Jennifer stayed during the trial. Jeremy Park wrote to the North-West Evening Mail to confirm that he wanted nothing to do with the reward, and that Harrison had no right to include his name, contact details or email address, or mention the freegordon website, in the adverts. Subsequently, Harrison claimed to have delivered 6,000 booklets and leaflets in the Furness area.
Not everyone with a link to the family supported Gordon's attempts to clear his name. Vanessa Fisher, Park's adoptive daughter, appeared as a witness for the prosecution at the trial, telling of how her father would hit the children with "a stick or cane" and how he would not discuss his wife's disappearance. She was not in court at the time of Park's sentencing. Ivor Price, Carol's brother, has spoken publicly at various times about his feelings about Gordon, and the Price family even sat away from Park's supporters during the trial itself. In a statement shortly after Park's guilty verdict, he said he had "no doubt" that justice had been done, and added that "Carol was a lovely, bubbly girl who was very clever and intelligent. What has been said about her has been heartbreaking. This was about one thing: justice for Carol." Around the same time, Price said that although he believed Gordon at the time of Carol's disappearance, upon the news of a body being found in Coniston Water, he "knew it was her, and knew who had done it", expressing his conviction of Park's guilt. More recently, he said that he was "distressed" by the ongoing campaign to free Park. After Park's unsuccessful appeal, Price's daughters, Kay Washford and Claire Gardener spoke to the North-West Evening Mail, their parents having died before the appeal was rejected. Washford said "It is brilliant, an amazing result. Our mum and dad Ivor and Maureen Price fought hard for this justice and now they can rest in peace because justice has been done. We are so thankful for the result and so glad he will be staying in there." She added that "It is finally justice for Carol." The Park family and Cumbria Constabulary did not comment.
Claims of flawed investigation
The case was reported to be difficult for the prosecution, with the time between the murder and the trial making it extremely difficult to track potential witnesses. Keith Churchman, a police officer involved in the case, said that "the other difficulty was of course the body was taken away from the place where it was killed." However, on top of the difficulties outlined by the police, the freegordon website detailed a number of what Park's supporters claim are holes in the evidence used to convict him. A story about the problems with the evidence was published in the Daily MailDaily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
on October 12, 2005, at the request of Jeremy, though it was not written by him. Bob Woffenden, the author, later wrote an article for Inside Time
Inside Time
Inside Time is the only 'not for profit' national newspapers for prisoners distributed through the UK prison estate. It was launched by the New Bridge, the national charity for prisoners, in 1990 as an eight page quarterly newspaper to provide a voice for prisoners to express their views and...
, in December 2006, talking about the trial and its controversies. Another similar article, pointing out holes in the evidence, was published in the Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
, on July 23, 2006.
Witnesses
The first problem with the evidence is the use of "jailhouse snitch" evidence, such as that from Michael Wainwright, described as "the most disreputable [form of evidence] of all", despite the fact that it was one of the key pieces of evidence in the trial. Glen Banks, a man with whom Park had briefly shared a cell and who claimed in court that Park had admitted his guilt to him, was described as "highly suggestible", frequently changed his story, and also claimed that Park had admitted to killing Carol while sailing to Blackpool. Wainwright, the other "snitch", was a heavy cannabisCannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
smoker and admitted to hearing voices. He claimed that Gordon had said that he went upstairs, found Carol in bed with another man, and killed her in a fit of rage. This seemed unlikely, as the Parks lived in a bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
, and the supposed lover has never come forward. Park also claimed to have never actually met Wainwright.
Joan Young, who was the only first-hand witness, is challenged in both articles. She came forward in 2004, claiming that she had seen someone push something over the side of a boat on Coniston Water. This testimony is challenged, because so much time has passed and the fact that her husband saw nothing. However, he claims to have been reading his paper at the time. Also, it has been said that Young was too far away to identify the person in the boat, and that it couldn't have been Carol Park's body that was being dumped, as the Youngs were positioned so that the location Carol's body was found would have been visibly blocked by an island. The article even points out that Young described a boat that appeared to be a cruiser yacht
Cruiser Yacht
The term cruiser yacht refers to sailing or motor yachts that were built for long distance sailing and offer enough comfort and space to live on the boat permanently. This would not allow to carry cargo and, by definition, exclude racer yachts. Another feature that is often used to define the term...
. Despite the fact that Gordon did own a large yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
in 1997, in 1976 he owned only a 505 racing dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
, which he sold later that year.
There are three witnesses who provide direct evidence supporting the idea that Park was innocent. The first, a neighbour, claims that they saw Carol at the bottom of her driveway. A second, another neighbour, claims that they saw an unidentified man in a Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
in the Parks' drive for twenty minutes. The presence of the unidentified car has never been accounted for. Around 6pm that night, another witness, a woman who knew Carol, saw her at Charnock Richard services
Charnock Richard services
Charnock Richard services is a motorway service station, between junctions 27 and 28 of the M6 motorway in England. It was the first service station to open on the M6 motorway when it opened in 1963. It is operated by Welcome Break....
. She mentioned the fact that Carol had not greeted her to her husband, describing her as "snobby".
Other evidence
The rock supposedly found in the lake, said to be taken from the Park's garden wall, has been challenged as evidence in multiple places. Both articles say that the police diver had no memory of recovering it, and he claimed that if he had found it, he would have placed it back. Professor Kenneth Pye, a defense witness, said that there was no evidence that the rock had ever been on the lake bed at all. The article in the Sunday Herald also claims that the policeman said to be responsible for finding the rock fainted when it was produced in court, offering no explanation, but still denying that he ever found it.Two more issues are addressed in the Sunday Herald article, but not in the Daily Mail article. The first is of the knots used to tie up Carol's body – the knots on Carol's body were mostly granny knot
Granny knot
The granny knot is a binding knot, used to secure a rope or line around an object. It is considered inferior to the reef knot, which it superficially resembles. Neither of these knots should be used as a bend for attaching two ropes together....
s, of which there was no evidence that Gordon ever used – indeed during the trial he was specifically asked this, and he responded, "I do not use granny knots". The granny knot is always a mistake, used by someone who should have used a reef knot; those learning knot-tying frequently make this mistake. Gordon Park, an experienced knot-tyer, would likely never use a granny knot, and their frequent appearance on the body of Carol is strong evidence that it was not Gordon who tied them. The article also claims that the evidence of knots was irrelevant anyway, as climbers and yachtsmen were so common in the area. The other piece of evidence related to another rock taken from the lakebed, which had supposedly come from the Parks' roof. However, the prosecution eventually admitted that Westmoreland green slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
had been worked in the area for hundreds of years, and could have come from anywhere. The Herald also mentions the fact that the police files from the original missing persons inquiry into Carol Park had gone missing themselves, but does not draw any conclusions from this.
Both articles address the issue of who the killer could alternatively have been, and both of them mention Carol's other lovers, and John Rapson, responsible for murdering Carol's sister. Both of the articles mention that he was in the Barrow area around the time of the murder, but both of them are careful to point out that they are not accusing him of being the murderer.
No Smoke
On 1 May 2007, No Smoke – The Shocking Truth About British Justice, by Sandra Lean, was published by Exposure Publishing. This book features the stories of seven high-profile convicted murderers, including Park, Luke Mitchell and Sion Jenkins. The book claims that the expert testimonies in the Lady in the Lake trial were flawed, that certain evidence was withheld, and that the sensationalist reporting of the press at the time influenced the court by persuading them that Park was the only person who could have killed his wife.Personal life of Gordon Park
Park worked as a village primary school teacher, but was retired by the time he was prosecuted for the murder of his first wife, Carol. Park had two children by Carol, Jeremy and Rachael. Gordon and Carol also adopted their niece Vanessa when she was 18 months old after her mother, Christie (who was Carol's sister), was murdered by her boyfriend in 1969, aged 17. This was described as a "rare and appalling coincidence", but has been picked up on by the case for the defence since the trial.Park remarried twice after Carol was murdered. His second wife was named Catherine, and his third, to whom he remained married until his death, is named Jenny. Park met all of his wives through teaching, Carol was a teacher at Askam Village School when she was killed. When rejecting Park's request for appeal, Lord Justice Keene, Mr Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Macduff noted that both Gordon and Carol had had affairs in the year leading up to Carol's disappearance.
Park's interests included sailing and climbing, which was relevant to the case due to the knots used to tie his wife's body. While in prison, Park spent time practising t'ai chi, taking a maths degree and keeping fit.
In an exclusive written interview with The Westmorland Gazette
The Westmorland Gazette
The Westmorland Gazette is a weekly newspaper published in Kendal, Cumbria, England. It covers "South Lakeland and surrounding areas" and derives its name from the historic county of Westmorland....
nine months into his sentence, Park talked of how he had struggled with prison, saying: "They [other inmates] may smoke incessantly, play loud music, the TV or video games, rifle your drawers, steal, lie etc. There is not a lot you can do about it... I watched a guy "chasing the dragon
Chasing the dragon
"Chasing the dragon" refers to inhaling the vapor from heated morphine, heroin, oxycodone or opium that has been placed on a piece of foil...
". It frightened me to death. I had never seen that before." He refused to answer detailed questions about the trial or case, but protested his innocence, saying "If I knew who killed my wife, how, where, why, then I would have said so. I did not know then. I do not know now."
External links
- Freegordon.com, the website established by Park's son to campaign for his father's freedom