'Do you get more for murder if you cut up a body?' Suspect's 'bizarre' question after being arrested

A murder accused asked 'do you get more for murder if you cut up a body?', jurors heard. Gerard McGlacken, 45, was said to have made the 'bizarre' remark to an appropriate adult, who was checking on his welfare while he was being interviewed at a police station.

McGlacken and his cousin, 33-year-old Aaron Evitt, are on trial accused of murdering their friend 34-year-old Ashley Walsh, then 'chopping up' his body. Mr Walsh's dismembered remains were found in four separate suitcases in a park in Collyhurst.

Jurors have heard the pair have already pleaded guilty to the prevention of a lawful burial, but both deny murder. Evitt later told police that he'd 'flipped out' and hit Mr Walsh with a hammer after hearing he'd allegedly slept with his ex-girlfriend.

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Manchester Crown Court was told a neighbour had heard 'drilling' sounds coming from McGlacken's home in Collyhurst. Mr Walsh, who brought his beloved dog Duke, went to McGlacken's home on Kintore Walk on Friday, January 7 this year, where the pair drank with Evitt.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Walsh was hit over the head with a hammer and stabbed repeatedly, and that he was killed sometime before 12.30am on January 8. A neighbour of McGlacken said she was in bed in the early hours and heard noises coming from the flat.

"I heard what I thought was a drilling noise," she said. "I thought to myself, 'who is putting up pictures at this time in the night?'"

Mr Walsh's body was found days later in several pieces, inside four suitcases in Sand Hills Park, Collyhurst. Over the following days Mr Walsh’s partner and his boss repeatedly tried to contact him.

Mr Walsh’s sister later saw a post on Facebook about Duke, who