In December 1991 Mr. Firsland bought Bluestones, and we had his statement read to us. He made that statement in 1997, and said at that stage the house was in a similar state to that in which he had bought it. He had done some levelling work to the rear and some concrete work for keeping dogs which he bred. He had a new kitchen fitted and a heating system. He said that during the period since acquiring the house, he had tidied up the rear and had come across all sorts of scrap metal that was lying around. He said some lead piping was in the garage when he purchased the house. He said in a further statement made in 2004 he had also pointed out to the police a number of items which had been left in the house when he had moved in. The relevant items were a white coloured toilet from the garage, a sail and rigging from the garage, a key for the house with a knotted cord, some step ladders in the garage, a quantity of ropes from the garage and a few in the loft, a black bin bag containing clothing, what appeared to be clothing from the loft, some scrap lead piping in the garage and a bolt from the back bedroom door, being about two inches from the top of the door. That was Mr. Firsland.
In 1993 Mr. Park married his present wife Jennifer. She told us she had known Gordon Park for 45 years. She was aware of Carol's disappearance when she had got married, and I think she told us at what time she had heard about it. She told us that she had a wonderful relationship with Mr. Park. She said he would discuss his problems with her, talked about his feelings. He had never said that he had killed Carol or disposed of her body. She was asked about Mr. Park's time in prison in 1997. She visited him about nine times in the ten to 14 days in which he had been in custody. She said that although Gordon obviously did not like prison, he was calm and coping. She said he had never been violent towards her, and he was not a violent person she told us. She said he was kind and compassionate, and she gave us the example about picking up the spiders rather than killing them. She said "He has a wonderful relationship with all the family. He is no more than a telephone call away from them and will do jobs for them." In cross-examination she said that she had not spoken to Vanessa since she had given evidence. She denied, however, that Vanessa had been frozen out since she had given evidence in the case. She agreed, however, that she and others in the family had been upset by Vanessa's evidence. On their marriage the two families had meshed together well. She had taken responsibility for her own children and he had taken responsibility for his, and there had not been any chastisement by either of them of the others children.