A man has been jailed for life for murdering his neighbour, dismembering his body and then dumping parts in Cumbria.

Appearing at Preston Crown Court today, William Wilkinson, 65, of Seafield Road, Blackpool, was jailed for 19 years and three months.

Edward Forrester, 55, who goes by Eddie, was last seen in Seafield Road, Blackpool, at 1.31pm on September 1 last year. He was reported missing the following day.

When officers attended Eddie’s property in Seafield Road on September 3, they noticed blood on the door of the downstairs flat belonging to Wilkinson. When they entered the property Wilkinson was not present but they found traces of blood at the door and evidence of a clean up.

Forensic experts later found Eddie’s blood in other areas of Wilkinson’s flat, including the carpet, walls, skirting boards and stairs, as well as in the communal hallway.

Officers found a broken wooden stick with a heavy metal bung at one end in a bin liner. Wilkinson used this stick – thought to be the murder weapon – to strike Eddie to the head multiple times.

Wilkinson was subsequently arrested by officers from Cumbria Police in Windermere on September 5.

During his initial police interviews he denied knowing where Eddie was and denied having any dispute with him. He answered no comment to questions put to him in further interviews.

As officers pieced together Wilkinson’s movements in the period between Eddie’s disappearance and the defendant's arrest, they scoured hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.

This showed Wilkinson walking around Blackpool on September 1st, 2nd and 3rd disposing of carrier bags which are thought to have contained Eddie’s remains and personal belongings.

During this period, Wilkinson went about his daily routine as normal in order to try and throw our officers off the scent. This included shopping, going to a car boot sale, going to a pawnbrokers and placing bets at a bookmakers. He also went to the barbers – changing his appearance from having long hair and a beard to being clean shaven with a crew cut.

Wilkinson also used his white Peugeot Boxer van to drive to multiple locations around Blackpool and Cumbria to discard of evidence, including Eddie’s remains.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service and before the discovery of Eddie’s remains, Wilkinson was charged with murder and later further charged with perverting the course of justice.

He continued to deny any wrongdoing at this stage, although he did say “good luck” to an officer as he was being led back to his cell.

On September 13, Lancashire Police were contacted by Cumbria Police to say that they had found partial human remains – which later transpired to be Eddie’s - in a suitcase on land off Ashes Lane, Staveley, near Kendal.  

Further discoveries were made in Cumbria over the following days and weeks.

On November 17, and having been presented with overwhelming evidence of his criminal wrongdoing, Wilkinson pleaded guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice.

Katie Marsden, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “This is a shocking and tragic case. After brutally murdering his neighbour Edward Forrester, William Wilkinson systematically dismembered him then disposed of Edward’s body over two counties over the following days.

“The CPS worked closely with Lancashire Police from the outset of the murder investigation and as the evidence unfolded over the course of the following weeks.

“My thoughts are with the family and friends of Edward Forrester at this incredibly difficult time, and I hope that today’s sentence will, in time, be of some comfort to them.”