A man has admitted concealing the body of a woman but denied murdering her and killing five guinea pigs.
George Gordon, 65, is accused of killing Delia McInerney, whose body was reportedly discovered in the freezer of a flat in St Helens, Merseyside, in January.
On Friday, Gordon appeared by videolink from prison at Liverpool Crown Court and pleaded not guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to protected animals by killing five guinea pigs.
It can now be reported that Gordon pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to preventing a lawful and decent burial of a dead body and obstructing a coroner by concealing a body between April 2023 and January 2026.
He also admitted three counts of fraud by false representation and theft, which are said to relate to Ms McInerney.
Gordon, of Gerards Court, St Helens, denied murder at the earlier hearing.
Ms McInerney, who would have been 64 at the time her body was discovered, was from Anfield, Liverpool.
In a tribute released after her death, her sister Rita McInerney said: “A great artist, a free spirit, really ‘out there’.
“A rebel. Intelligent with a dynamic personality. Kind, caring and helpful.”
Gordon is due to stand trial on October 12.