EastEnders’ star murdered and dismembered by her own brother then dumped in canal
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Her time in the spotlight was cut short when she was the victim of a harrowing murder by her own flesh and blood – her family were left distraught as her body was nowhere to be found
Her head was found floating in the canal six months later(Image: YOUTUBE)
She was best known for playing Kerry Skinner in the much-loved BBC soap EastEnders before she disappeared from the screen and her life ended in heartbreaking tragedy.
The horror that was suffered by English actress Gemma McCluskie, 29, was far more sinister than anything her character experienced during her time on the BBC show.
McCluskie was a familiar face on CCBC as a children’s TV presenter on the series No Sweat in 1997, before she made an appearance in EastEnders. On the soap she played Kerry Skinner, from October 2000 to February 2001, a character who was close friends with Zoe Slater and the niece of the late Ethel Skinner.
After leaving the spotlight, she entered it once again, but for the worst imaginable reason, when she went missing from her East London flat, where she lived with her brother Tony, on March 1, 2012.
She was last seen at home with her brother that very afternoon, and it was later revealed that she went to a kebab shop at 8pm that night – but that was the last time she was spotted alive.
Gemma McCluskie, who was killed in 2012(Image: PA)
Soon enough, her loved ones organised a search party of up to 100 people who hunted far and wide on March 5. The next day, her headless torso was found in Regents Canal, London, where her brother had dumped it and killing her.
It was later proven McCluskie was brutally killed by her brother by being hit over the head at least twice before her body was hacked into ix pieces, using both a cleaver and a knife.
It wasn’t until a week later more of her body was found, followed by the discovery of her limbs in a plastic bag. Although it wasn’t until an entire six months later her head was discovered in the water, where her killer brother had dumped it.
On March 10, Tony McCluskie was charged with her murder, and he appeared at the Thames Magistrates’ Court just two days later. The trial began the following January, when the court learned of Tony’s cannabis use and use of skunk and window cleaner, which resulted in him ‘losing control’.
The siblings were known to frequently argue, and according to him, the last thing he remembers that day was his sister coming at him with a knife.
Tony McCluskie was found guilty of murdering his sister (Image: Handout)
Except the prosecution claimed he killed his sister after losing ‘patience’ when she had asked him to leave the Shoreditch flat which they shared in east London. This was after he had left taps running and a sink overflowed, the jury heard.
After killing his sister, Tony lugged a heavy suitcase into a local cab firm and was spotted taking it towards the canal, the Old Bailey heard. During his taxi ride, the driver asked him what was in the bag, to which he said that it was a ‘sound system’.
He was found guilty by an 11-1 majority and given a life sentence in prison.
Mr Justice Fulford told McCluskie: “I have no doubt that you killed your sister because she was furious with you for letting a sink overflow in the bathroom.
“I unhesitatingly reject your account that she had used bad language towards you or that she had belittled you in the past. She was a warm-hearted woman who was loved by a great many people.”
The judge added that this crime was committed in a “cold-blooded way” and that his hope was that “she would never be found”.
Anthony McCluskie, the father of both siblings, spoke outside of the court of the “extremely traumatic” events that he and his family and friends have faced as a result of the harrowing murder of his daughter. He described her as being “small in stature” but with a “huge personality” and a strong “zest for life”.
The bereaved father added that his daughter was “very much loved” and “greatly missed”.
