Joe Geeling
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Joe Geeling (1994-1 March 2006) was an English youth who was murdered by Michael Hamer.
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[edit] Background
Joe Geeling was born in 1994 to Tom and Gwen Geeling [1], and lived on Devon Street in Bury, Greater Manchester [2].
[edit] The murder
Joe suffered from cystic fibrosis and was expected home from school on 1st March 2006 by his mother as he had a hospital appointment. [3] He was reported missing at 17:24 GMT.
Joe had been lured to Hamer's house with a letter which claimed to be from the deputy headteacher at his school. [4] Joe was suspicious and showed the letter to a teacher, who confirmed it wasn't from the deputy headteacher and told Joe to go straight home[5]. He didn't. At Hamer's trial, the Court heard how when Hamer made sexual advances to Joe, Joe called him "gay" and threatened to tell on him. Hamer picked up a frying pan and beat Joe around the head, resulting in heavy bruising and a fractured eye socket. He was also stabbed a total of 16 times. When Hamer returned to the house he began cleaning Joe's blood and told his mother the stains on the carpet were caused by a leaking red pen. Hamer proceeded to do his homework that evening, an exercise based on the Ten Commandments.
[edit] Searching for the body
Joe's body was placed in a wheelie bin and then dumped underneath debris in a gulley in a park in Bury. Within minutes of Joe's mother ringing the police, a search was immediately launched, with police, rescue teams, firefighters, neighbours and the Geeling family all joining the hunt. Whitehead Park, not far from the Geeling home on Devon Street, was part of that search - although Joe's body was not found until 1045 BST the following day by a police dog.
[edit] Catching the suspect
Hamer's fingerprint was found on Joe's buttocks [6]. When police searched his house they found a second letter, which showed a clear sexual interest in Joe by Hamer. Hamer was found guilty on 16th October 2006 and was told that he would serve a minimum of 12 years before being eligible for parole.
