Lady in the Lake killer hangs himself in jail

Park escaped justice for nearly 30 years after he killed his wife Carol and and dumped her body in Coniston Water in the Lake District.

He was found unconscious in his cell at HMP Garth, Leyland, Lancashire this morning, his 66th birthday.

Today his son said he was still convinced his father was innocent.

Park bludgeoned his wife to death in July 1976 and dumped her in the lake near the family home in Leece, near Barrow-in-Furness.

But unknown to him it came to rest on an underwater ledge and was found by amateur divers 21 years later.

Park was arrested and charged but escaped conviction until fresh evidence emerged more than seven years later.

While in prison on remand in October 1997, he admitted the killing, telling fellow inmates "she deserved it" after he discovered her in bed with another man.

Police linked him to the killing with the knots used to tie up the body and a piece of Westmorland green slate used to weigh it down that matched the stone used to build the family home.

The 2005 guilty verdict brought to an end one of Britain's most notorious unsolved murders.

Park was jailed for a minimum of 15 years could not be considered for release for another decade. Thursday is five years to the day since his conviction.

His son, Jeremy, who lives in Bradford, has campaigned to prove his father's innocence and has fought to overturn the conviction since the end of the trial.

Mr Park said he was "devastated" by his father's death. He said: "We are all completely devastated and still believe his innocence 100%."

In the years following Carol's disappearance, Park cultivated an air of respectability as a family man.

The retired schoolmaster was on holiday in France with his third wife when the body had been found. "Oh dear", he said in a phone call after being told.

Carol was found wearing her blue baby doll night-dress, arms bound tightly and with tape over her eyes.

There was evidence of the wounds inflicted as she tried to defend herself.

The pair had a turbulent relationship involving wife swapping with other couples.

Carol, described at the trial as "vivacious and pretty", had gone to live with a man she met through an Open University course but returned to the family home after losing custody of the couple's children.

Park was not on suicide watch. It is understood he was found with a ligature around his neck and a plastic bag over his head.

A Prison Service spokesman said: "HMP Garth prisoner Gordon Park was found unconscious in his cell at 8am on Monday January 25.

"Staff and paramedics attended but Mr Park was pronounced dead at 9.40am.

"As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation."