Staff Reporter
THIS is the first photo of the paranoid, psychotic Brit who took a cocktail of drugs and steroids before killing his family and then himself.
An inquest has heard that a corkscrew and eight knives were found covered in blood in the brutal slaying of a family of four in Gibraltar.
Evidence suggests John Shannon, from Liverpool, stabbed his wife and two children to death before cutting his own throat at a rented home in Boschetti’s Steps, in March.
Anarda de la Caridad Perez Friman, 31, and her daughters Amanda Kristofferson, four, and six-week-old Eve Shannon Perez all died from stab wounds to the heart.
Shannon suffered ‘extreme paranoia’, delusions and a severe mental disorder, due to drug and steroid use, clinical psychologist Adrian West told Gibraltar’s coroner’s court.
It has also emerged that John Shannon believed the outside world ‘thought he was a paedophile’, and that he was being pursued by hitmen who were colluding with the police and his partner.
The court heard how Shannon, 37, father to just Eve, had a string of criminal convictions including GBH and burglary and just last year was arrested for growing cannabis at his Estepona home.
It was also revealed that Shannon fled to Spain after skipping bail in the UK for another drugs-related offence in 2009.
He had seemingly been planning to return and hand himself in, having reportedly sorted out documents for his dog to travel.
The inquest heard how Shannon had been taking steroids while living in Spain in order to ‘build himself up’ for prison.
Shannon, nicknamed ‘John Nazi’ where he grew up in Llandudno in North Wales, died after his throat was cut in the shower room in front of a mirror.
The wound was described in court as ‘typical of self-inflicted wounding’.
High levels of testosterone in Shannon’s urine indicated he was under the influence of steroids, and forensic tests also revealed he had also been smoking cannabis and drinking beer.
Blood smears in the corridor between the bedroom where Anarda was found and the shower suggest Shannon was the killer, contrary to reports at the time of the deaths.
Spanish mother Anarda was found by police officers in the master bedroom with a pillow over her face, with 12 stab marks to the chest.
Both children – described as ‘normally-developed and well-looked after little girls’ – were found in the living room. Baby Eve died after a ‘single episode’ of violence, while Amanda had ‘defensive wounds’ on her hands and 13 stab wounds, one supposedly inflicted by a corkscrew, to her body.
Shannon, from Liverpool, appears to have cut his own throat in the shower room before crawling into the living room. Strangely he also had six stab wounds to his back.
He was found by officers down the side of the bed, with a makeshift knife sheath taped to his leg.
Five bottles of Heineken beer were found around the house with Shannon’s DNA on them, which suggests he was inebriated.
The family of four were discovered dead in a horrific scene on March 30 by a friend in whose flat they were staying.
The inquest continues.
It will be intriguing to see how the court explains the six stab wounds to this apparent murderer’s back.
It opens the possibility of another actor in this tragedy.