Heartfelt plea to ‘body in freezer’ killers

A friend of a ‘body in the freezer’ murder victim is demanding his killers reveal when they slaughtered him.

Evil killer Sharon Swinhoe battered her “sugar daddy” Peter McMahon to death with the help of another boyfriend.

The 44-year-old gouged out his eyes before hiding his body in a chest freezer.

Her murder trial heard that Mr McMahon’s body could have lain undiscovered for up to five weeks. But Swinhoe and accomplice Joseph Collins, 54, have always refused to reveal when the murder happened.

They were both jailed for murder last year.

Kerry Wheater, who Mr McMahon described as his “adopted daughter”, is demanding to know when he was killed, to allow her and his family to grieve properly.

Kerry, 34, of Middlesbrough, said: “I just still can’t understand why the three monsters could hurt him like that.

“I just wish they would say the exact date he passed away. It’s so terrible not knowing.”

Retired civil servant Mr McMahon was tortured by the evil seductress who was 24 years his junior before she and Collins killed him.

They are believed to have mutilated his body before hiding it in a dog kennel outside.

With the help of Ronald Douglas, another of Swinhoe’s lovers, they took it to Mr McMahon’s flat in Elswick, Newcastle. It was hidden in a freezer in his bedroom until it was discovered two months later.

Friends had warned the 68-year-old that the younger woman would take advantage of him but he was “besotted” with the killer. He even paid £1,200 for an engagement ring for her and £2,660 was plundered from his bank accounts between the time he went missing and when police

discovered his body.

After Mr McMahon’s remains were found in December 2012, his friends were devastated.

Swinhoe and Collins were convicted of murder after a six-week trial last July.

Swinhoe was jailed for 25 years for murder and 10 years for conspiracy. Collins was sentenced to 20 years for murder and eight for conspiracy.

Douglas, 77, was cleared of murder but jailed for four years for perverting the course of justice.

Sentencing Swinhoe, Mr Justice Globe said Mr McMahon “fell victim” to Swinhoe’s charms.

He told her: “You seemed to care more for the rats that you kept as pets than the life of the man who loved you.”

Mum-of-two Kerry first met Peter when she was living on Tyneside in 2002.

He took care of her and supported her during her second pregnancy and the pair even lived together.

She said she was devastated she was unable to celebrate Mr McMahon’s birthday with him last month, adding: “You couldn’t have met a nicer man.”