Murder suspect claims he was ‘too scared’ to tell police dead woman was in his shed

Mariann Borocz, 55, was found dead in a shed behind the home of Christopher Barlow, 62, on Pedder Street in Bolton shortly before last Christmas.

Barlow was charged with murdering Ms Borocz, a Hungarian national who was said to have spoken little English and was described as vulnerable.

Giving evidence before Manchester Crown Court Barlow said he had intended to tell the police that Ms Borocz was dead in his shed but had panicked and feared he would be “blamed.”

He said: “It’s still haunting me now it’s not something I’m proud of.”

Mariann Borocz was reported missing last December (Image: GMP) The court had previously heard how a pathologist had found Ms Borocz’s death to be “unascertained” and that asphyxiation, deprivation of food or seizures were all possible.

During an often-tense cross examination session by prosecutor James Bourne-Arton KC Barlow repeatedly claimed that he did not tell the police because he was “scared”.

Barlow claimed that he had met Ms Borocz for the first time at a convenience store on Chorley Old Road while he was out buying beer on Saturday December 14 last year.

He claimed that she had followed him home and that he invited her into his house on Pedder Street shortly after “just for company”.

Police on the scene on Pedder Street (Image: Phil Taylor) Barlow told the court that Ms Borocz had stood at the kitchen door and did not seem to want to come into the main sitting room.

He said he was then unaware of where she was in the house for the next 40 minutes and when he next saw her she was sat upright in his kitchen with her head slumped forward.

Barlow claimed that she had “nothing on” and that on checking her she did not appear to be breathing and seemed to be dead

He said that he then “panicked” and did not call 999 but instead dragged her from the kitchen to his shed, where she remained for the next several days.

Ms Borocz was eventually discovered dead in the shed when police conducted a full search at Barlow’s house on December 23.

Police searched Barlow’s home on Pedder Street (Image: Phil Taylor) Pressed repeatedly by Mr Bourne-Arton why he had done this and at no point called the police or ambulance service, Barlow said “I didn’t think, I was panicking”.

He added: “I’d have been shocked when I discovered her, I was in shock.”

Barlow said that failing to call the emergency services was something “I will live with for the rest of my life”.

The defendant also admitted that he had put Ms Borocz’s clothes and her dentures, which he said were found on the kitchen floor, in a separate bin.

But he claimed not to have known how Ms Borocz came to be naked.

Barlow said throughout that he meant to tell the police but feared that he would “get into trouble” if he reported that the missing woman’s body was in his house.

Mr Bourne-Arton said: “Did you not think to yourself that if you move it and hid it in the shed, that would look a little suspicious?”

Barlow said he “didn’t think like that”.

While Ms Borocz lay dead in Barlow’s shed, he was then pressed on why he had told his cleaner that he had possible caught Covid and so had to self-isolate.

Barlow said that he had been told he had “Covid like symptoms” at the time

Earlier in the cross-examination session Barlow told Mr Bourne-Arton that he had not told the police that he had a mobile phone because he was embarrassed by some of its content.

This included exchanging messages with women and in some cases swapping or paying for intimate photographs.

Asked by Mr Bourne-Arton if he ever thought about hurting or killing any of these women, Barlow said: “Never, I would never think that.”

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

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

He added: “I am not a deranged, twisted man.”

Earlier when questioned by Siobhan Grey KC, defending, Barlow had also said that he was “scared” and was “panicking” after discovering Ms Borocz dead in his kitchen.

He said that in the days until she was discovered the thought that Ms Borocz was lying dead in his shed was “constantly, constantly, going round and round in my head”.

Barlow, of Pedder Street, Heaton, denies murder and the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The trial before Judge John Potter continues.

Source – INDIA TV