Husband who murdered his wife and blamed it on a gang of thugs wearing clown masks is released after 26 years in jail

A husband who murdered his wife and blamed it on a gang of thugs wearing clown masks in a bogus TV appeal has been released after 26 years in jail.

Gordon Wardell was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995 for the murder of his wife Carol, 39, who he claimed had been kidnapped by men wearing ‘clown masks.’

Callous Wardell, then 42, killed Carol and dumped her body in a lay-by on Monday 12th September 1994, then staged the aftermath of a raid at their home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

He told police – who found him bound and gagged in his underwear at the property following the discovery of Carol’s body – he’d been attacked and drugged by a gang after returning home to find them holding his wife.

Wardell appeared at a police press conference in a wheelchair, wearing orange tinted sunglasses and visibly shaken a few days after the murder and his over-the-top performance immediately made him a suspect.

Wardell presented an elaborate alibi at a police press conference, crying through crocodile tears that his wife ‘worked hard’

Despite plenty of emotion and crocodile tears, the only kind words the supposedly grieving widower could find to say about his wife at the press conference days after her death was that she ‘worked hard’.

He described in detail to reporters how he had returned home to find a man wearing a clown’s mask and a dark blue boiler suit threatening his wife at knifepoint.

He claimed to have been grabbed from both sides, forced down and lost consciousness after a cloth had been put over his face. Wardell said he didn’t remember anything else until he awoke later bound and gagged.

During the press conference, questions were put to Wardell regarding a previous conviction he had for grievous bodily harm. He responded that he didn’t see how the question was relevant and reiterated that all he wanted was for his wife’s killers to be found.

On Sunday 2 October 1994, police with the assistance of Wardell, carried out a reconstruction of his movements on the Sunday night before his wife was found murdered.

He retraced his steps, having left his home in Meriden, he had driven to Coventry to post some letters at the main sorting office before driving to a public house located in the suburbs of Coventry where he had two drinks before returning home to find his wife held at knife point.

Police hoped that the reconstruction, which was covered by local and national media, might jog someone’s memory so that they might come forward with new information.

It was also a ruse to allow Wardell to implicate himself as police considered him a strong suspect.

Wardell had previously been convicted of a serious sexual assault and grievous bodily harm in the 1970s for which he had spent time in prison.

Carol Wardell had been a branch manager for Woolwich Building Society, robbed of more than £14,000 on the day of her murder

Wardell was jailed for life in 1995 after being convicted of his wife’s murder – but has quietly been released back into the world

The reconstruction was covered extensively by the national and local press and TV because the story was front page news across the UK.

Wardell’s tissue of lies began to unravel – police discovered he had been visiting prostitutes in the red light district of Coventry – and he was arrested on Thursday 20th October 1994.

A jury at Oxford Crown Court was told that Wardell staged a raid at the Nuneaton branch of the Woolwich building society, stealing £14,000 and leaving one of his wife’s sandals in the office in an attempt to cover his tracks.

He bound and gagged himself at the couple’s home where he was found by police. He told them a gang had kidnapped his wife, who was found suffocated.

The jury unanimously rejected his story after a six-week trial during which 128 witnesses were called.

On 21 December 1995, Gordon Wardell was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Home Secretary set Wardell’s minimum tariff to 18 years.

Sentencing Wardell, Mr Justice Cresswell said: ‘You are an extremely dangerous, evil and devious man. You killed your wife in a brutal manner then cynically attempted to escape detection by going to elaborate lengths to make it appear that your crime was the work of a gang of robbers.

‘This murder was an outrage to your wife, her family, and to everybody who knew her.’

There were gasps of ‘yes’ from the public gallery and Mrs Wardell’s mother, Joan, burst into tears. Wardell, a 6ft 3ins tall fitness fanatic, looked pale and shook his head.

Following the conviction, Carol’s mother, Joan Heslop said: ‘Carol will be able to rest now in peace. She loved life and was full of life. To have it taken away in such a way was terrible.’

Detective Superintendent Tony Bayliss, who led the murder investigation, said that a motive for the killing has never been fully established though one theory was that Wardell was at risk of losing his job as an executive for a car parts company.

‘Inevitably it led to financial problems but I believe the murder was domestically oriented, he said at the time.

MailOnline can reveal that Wardell was quietly released on licence in December 2021. It was his fifth review before the Parole Board. Wardell is now aged 70.

Wardell was roped into police reconstructions in a police ruse to implicate himself in the crime

Wardell was sentenced to life imprisonment for a minimum of 18 years. He was released after spending 26 years behind bars

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Gordon Wardell following an oral hearing in December 2021.

‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing.

‘It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’