AN EX-GIRLFRIEND of Facebook Killer George Appleton has told the M.E.N. how she feared he would commit murder one day.

Jackie Marshall described how the sadistic woman abuser made her fear for her life after she ended their relationship.

And she revealed how she tried in vain to warn the woman Appleton ultimately killed that her life was also in danger.

Appleton - who had a long history of violence against women - was found dead yesterday following a six-day manhunt.

It began after young mum Clare Wood was murdered in her Salford home. She had been strangled before her body was set on fire.

The killer met his victim through social networking websites and went on to communicate with her through Facebook. Police believe he tried to lure other women in the same way.

Terrified

Miss Marshall, 40, from Manchester, told how she was so terrified about Appleton that she had to change her name and appearance and move all over the country to try to escape him.

He began bombarding her with phone calls and text messages after their relationship ended nine years ago.

 And she described how she thought he was going to murder her when he broke into her home in the middle of the night and held her at knife point for eight hours.

 Appleton, 40, of Adelphi Court, Salford, was jailed for three years in 2002 for aggravated burglary after the attack.

The previous year he had been jailed for six months after breaching a restraining order issued to protect a woman.

Miss Marshall said: “I can’t really believe he has gone, after all these years living in fear. I feel so relieved but also sick with guilt because I knew he was capable of this, and although I warned Clare I will always wonder if I could have done more.

“George ruined my life after I split up with him, he would not leave me alone.

Violent

“His stalking turned violent when he broke into my house in the middle of the night and held me hostage with a knife for eight hours until I convinced him I would marry him and we could be a family.

“When I think of that night now it sends a shiver down my spine because I realise now just how close I came, just what he is capable of.

“My last contact with George was about 18 months ago when he introduced me to Clare on a website, I told her what he had done to me, I told her to run a mile but she said he had told her all about his past but she believed he had changed and she loved him.”

Miss Marshall, who now works in property management, met Appleton at the Manchester petrol station where she worked in 1996. They became friends and quickly started a relationship.

They were together for four years but after they split up she started another relationship and he began bombarding her with up to 70 calls a night – even managing to get hold of ex-directory numbers.

Stalkers

She moved to Scarborough in 2000 and then to Northumberland in 2001. She said: “He ruined my life, I moved from place to place, from job to job but he always found me. The police were fantastic in Manchester, in Scarborough and in Northumberland but the laws don’t protect women from stalkers – there needs to be a change to protect women from people like Appleton.”

Appleton’s body was found in the derelict Waterloo pub in Manchester city yesterday – just 60 feet from his abandoned van which was found by police on Monday. Officers watched it overnight in case he returned but did not search the building next door.

Police concentrated their hunt a mile away where records showed he had made his last phone call and only returned to the site of the dumped van yesterday.

Additional reporting by: Yakub Qureshi, Paul R Taylor, Dean Kirby.

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