Chilling CCTV shows hammer murderer lurking near home after beating nan to death
A killer builder who bludgeoned to death a grandmother he was building an extension for was caught on CCTV moments after the deadly attack.
Bricklayer Peter Norgrove was today jailed for life after a row at Sharon Gordon's home in July last year, saw him hit her over the head eight times and left her at the bottom of her stairs. Clear video footage from a Ring doorbell shows the callous 43-year-old hurrying out to his car after he killed the homeowner.
The dad-of-three is seen on the morning of the murder carrying what looks like his lunchbox into the property. He is then later seen struggling with an internal door he puts outside to work on, before casually finishing up for the day at around 2pm.
Norgrove is seen starting to tidy his tools away and oddly puts on a pair of gloves, despite having already been working for more than four and a half hours. Shortly after 2pm, he is filmed going back into Mrs Gordon's home and shutting the door behind him.
Sharon Gordon was killed at her own home (WMP)Police say that is when he killed Sharon, hitting her eight times with a hammer. In footage, not released to the public by detectives, the house cameras pick up a scream from inside.
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Norgrove is then seen around 20 minutes later scurrying across her driveway with something under his arm. He heads out to his car, before returning briefly to tidy up and was later seen with a black bin liner in his hands.
Police found blood-stained items in a wheelie bin in Dudley, West Midlands, and later discovered the murder weapon - a hammer - hidden in a shed. A separate video clip taken from outside Mrs Gordon's home taken after she died shows the side extension on the right of the property and rubble appearing to be piled up in the front garden.
Chilling footage shows Norgrove in the wake of the attack (Police Handout)It is believed the pair rowed over the extension which had taken several months to build and thrown up numerous problems. They had originally met through mutual friends at the church they both attended, before Mrs Gordon employed the newly-qualified bricklayer to carry out the work.
Concerned friends went to check on Mrs Gordon after she failed to turn up to work on July 21, last year and found the 58-year-old slumped at the bottom of the stairs with severe head injuries. Police say she was hit over the head eight times the day before she was discovered.
Peter Norgrove scurries out to his car after killing Sharon Gordon (Police Handout)The £29,000 building project, which was only meant to take six weeks, was beset by problems from the outset. Sharon kept a diary detailing newly-qualified Norgrove’s poor work and time-keeping and regularly complained to him.
He snapped in July last year minutes after the grandmother criticised him to her friends while they were in her house together. Norgrove was captured on CCTV entering Sharon’s rear door wearing red builder’s gloves after her pals had left.
The accounts assistant’s doorbell camera recorded her screams as he hit her over the head with a lump hammer. Norgrove then took the murder weapon to his van and was heard on the camera whistling as he returned to the house.
Sharon Gordon, 58, was found dead at her home in Dudley (WMP)He spent half an hour cleaning up the crime scene before “coolly” driving to collect his daughter from school. The builder then went to his mother-in-law’s home and dumped blood-stained items in her wheelie-bin and the hammer in her shed.
Later that evening he went with his wife and three children to their church and led a service, the court heard. Sharon’s body was found at the bottom of her stairs the following day by friends after they became concerned for her welfare.
Norgrove was initially interviewed as a witness and claimed Sharon had been alive when he left the house. But he was later arrested and charged with murder and admitted the offence in court last month. Married Norgrove, of Sedgley, West Mids, was given a mandatory life term this afternoon.
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Killer Peter Norgrove (WMP)Judge Michael Chambers KC described the murder as “brutal and savage”. He said: “You were angry because she criticised you for your chronic delays and workmanship completing building work at her home. It was a relatively small extension which should have been completed many months previously. You may regret what you did now, but I’m not satisfied you are truly remorseful for what happened.”
Sharon’s daughter Rhian Brown said Norgrove acted like a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” after earning her trust. “He didn’t have the experience to be doing the work he was doing,” she said.
“He took full payment for the extension in advance, which we believe to be more than £30,000. He drove my mum mad with stress and anxiety - she noted everything down.
“She had notebooks, receipts, everything, because of how bad this man’s workmanship was.” Sharon’s sister Hilary, who lives in Australia, said her death had left “darkness and an indescribable pain”.
Det Insp Damian Forrest, who led the investigation, said: "This appears to have been a disagreement over work carried out at the victim's property which has escalated into violence. I am pleased the defendant has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and spared Mrs Gordon's family the ordeal of a trial."
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