A man who killed his victim after randomly meeting her at a shop, inviting her back to his home and killing her has been jailed for a minimum of twenty years in Manchester today
Sixty two year old Christopher Barlow killed Mariann Borocz in December 2024 after randomly meeting her at a shop and inviting her to his house.
He dumped her body in a locked shed in his garden in Bolton.
Barlow of Pedder Street, was convicted after a three-week trial with the jury returning its guilty verdict at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday.
Today he has been sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum term of twenty years behind bars.
What started out as a search for a missing woman turned into a murder investigation just before Christmas.
Our officers carried made extensive efforts to locate Mariann, who was originally from Hungary, from the moment she was reported missing on Sunday 15 December having been last seen alive in the early hours of the previous day.
During the search and investigation, CCTV showed Barlow following Mariann into a shop near his house and then back out again.
After Barlow was arrested on suspicion of assault on 23 December, officers found the keys to his shed and, sadly, discovered Mariann’s body.
Barlow was charged with murder, which he denied.
He also denied any contact with Mariann but admitted during the trial that he had invited her into his house, and found her not breathing in his kitchen about 40 minutes later.
Chief Superintendent Helen Critchley, who oversaw the searches, said: “We made extensive efforts to locate Mariann, including house-to-house enquiries, several media appeals, searching empty buildings and open areas conducted by specially trained officers, and reviewing CCTV.
“We also engaged with the Hungarian community and had our appeals translated into Hungarian.
“We never gave up hope and followed up every line of enquiry, every reported sighting but something didn’t feel quite right.
“The big breakthrough came from our neighbourhood team who saw Mariann with Barlow on CCTV outside a shop – their enquiries led them to finding a photo of Barlow outside his house on Google Maps.
“He was originally spoken to as a witness but during further house-to-house enquiries a neighbour reported hearing a scream from his house and we went back to arrest him.
“At that point we made the harrowing discovery and the murder investigation started.
“We would like to thank members of the local Bolton community who spoke to our officers, helped with our search or shared our appeals.
“Our thoughts today are with Mariann and her family and friends, who finally have justice.”
