Missing woman found dead ‘with clothes ripped or cut off’ in man’s shed, court hears

Mariann Borocz, 55, was found dead in a shed after police searched behind the home of 62-year-old Christopher Barlow on Pedder Street, Heaton, just days before last Christmas.

A trial that opened at Manchester Crown Court this week heard how Ms Borocz was seen on CCTV at a convenience store on Chorley Old Road just days before she was found dead.

Prosecutor James Bourne-Arton KC said: “This is the last time she is seen alive. 

“The next time she was seen by someone other than the defendant was on December 21 when she was found dead in the defendant’s shed. 

“Her body was naked her clothes had been cut or ripped off and placed in a nearby bin.”

The trial opened at Manchester Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss) Barlow, who appeared in the dock dressed in a plain grey top, grey trousers and glasses, listened on in silence as Mr Bourne-Arton told the jury about the state Ms Borocz was found in.

Mr Bourne-Arton guided the jury through a lengthy series of CCTV images and photographs.

They showed the final movements of Ms Borocz, who was described as vulnerable, and was reported missing on December 14, and what police say they found in Barlow’s house.

Mariann Borocz on CCTV (Image: GMP) CCTV from inside the Chorley Old Road shop showed Ms Borocz and Barlow stood close to each other as Barlow appeared to buy cans of beer.

Mr Bourne-Arton told the jury how officers searching for the missing Ms Borocz arrived at Barlow’s Pedder Street home on December 21.

Barlow then confirmed it was indeed him who was shown on the CCTV in the shop with the missing woman.

The prosecutor said: “He said she had asked him for £1, and he had given her £10. 

“He said that she had then walked off and not come down Pedder Street. 

Police investigating at the scene (Image: Phil Taylor) “A quick search of the property was carried out and during this search the defendant said he did not own a mobile phone and did not have access to the shed in his back yard, which he says he never uses.”

Mr Bourne-Arton said that police decided to arrest Barlow on suspicion of assault and made their grim discovery when carrying out a full search of his home on December 23.

He said: “A key to the padlock on the shed was found on the key ring in the possession of the defendant. 

“In the shed the deceased’s body was found, the body was naked, and she was obviously dead.”

 A police car on the scene (Image: Phil Taylor)

Mr Bourne-Arton said that “other than a red mark on her neck there was no obvious signs of injury” and that at this point Barlow was rearrested on suspicion of murder.

He said Ms Borocz’s clothes “which appear to have been ripped off” were found in a nearby bin, along with her phone and handbag containing her passport and bank card.

A set of false teeth were found in another bin.

Elsewhere in the house a sock was found on an ironing board that was found to contain Ms Borocz’s DNA, while police also found a pair of scissors and a knife in the main bedroom.

Mr Bourne-Arton told the court how messages from Barlow’s phone showed he had told a friend on December 14 that he was working all weekend.

On December 15 he told his cleaner that he had been told by a doctor that he may have covid and should self-isolate.

Mr Bourne-Arton said that Barlow, a mechanic, had not in fact been to work on December 14 or 15.

ALSO READ: Man denies murdering woman in Bolton over Christmas period

ALSO READ: Man accused of murdering woman who went missing in Bolton set to face trial

ALSO READ: Bolton man accused of murdering missing woman appears in court

He said this showed that “very short space of time he has told a lie” to both a friend and his cleaner about what he was doing.

Mr Bourne-Arton said that a pathologist’s report found that Ms Borocz’s cause of death was “unascertained” but that there were three possible causes.

These were asphyxia, hypothermia or deprivation of food and water, while another possible cause of death could have been that she had suffered a seizure.

But Mr Bourne-Arton said: “We do not think it is likely that she was locked in that shed alive, given the surrounding circumstances.”

Barlow denies murder and the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The trial, before Judge John Potter, continues.

Source – INDIA TV