Convicted Killer Murders Govanhill Pensioner 11 Months After Life Sentence Release
A convicted killer murdered an innocent pensioner - less than a year after being freed from a life sentence.
Steven Ryan stabbed stranger Gordon Murphy with a scissor blade in an unprovoked attack last December.
65 year-old Gordon - who previously won a cancer battle - never survived the attack close to his front door in Govanhill.
Ryan struck just 11 months after being deemed safe enough to be put back on the streets.
The 43 year-old was jailed for life in 1994 for the high-profile murder of Glasgow procurator fiscal Marshall Stormonth at his home in the city's west end.
Ryan denied this latest killing insisting he had been a "good samaritan" by coming to Gordon's aid after he had been set upon by mystery attackers.
But, the thug was again convicted of murder following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Judge John Morris QC ordered Ryan to serve a minimum 25 years as he was given a second life sentence.
Describing the "barbarity" of this latest crime, he told Ryan: "It may be that you will never be released."
Gordon was attacked around midnight on December 20 last year.
The killer meantime was roaming the streets near his own flat with his lover Cherie Marshall.
The pair had been planning to visit a local bar despite earlier having a row.
But, after instead deciding to return home, Miss Marshall recalled Ryan telling her to "hold on" as he suddenly crossed the road.
She told the jury how Ryan was soon in a "scuffle" with a man in the city's Ardbeg Street.
The 35 year-old went on: "The guy was not putting up much of a fight. Steven was attacking him.
"I did not know at the time, but Steven had obviously stabbed him - I did see blood."
Miss Marshall said she ran over and could see the slumped victim was "in a bad way".
The witness added: "He had blood on him and seemed that he was in pain."
The jury heard a hysterical Miss Marshall make a 999 call soon after the attack. Ryan also came on the line at one point.
But, the pair did not hang around and instead headed across the city to buy crack cocaine.
Ryan also ditched the murder weapon into the Forth and Clyde Canal close to the city's Possilpark.
The court heard Gordon died after one of the stab wound struck his heart.
A post mortem revealed signs that he had possibly tried to defend himself from crazed Ryan.
The pensioner had successfully fought throat cancer three years before he was murdered.
Ryan was initially traced by detectives as his phone had been used to make the 999 call before later being charged.
He gave evidence during the trial and denied being the killer.
The thug claimed he spotted a fight that night before two people fled as he ran across the road. He said "a guy" was the left slumped across a hedge.
Ryan went on: "I bent down and asked was he OK. I could see a lot of blood on his chest. I kind of panicked."
He admitted a 999 call was made before he and Miss Marshall bought drugs.
Under cross-examination, prosecutor Alex Prentice QC said Ryan appeared to be suggesting he had been a "good samaritan" by helping Gordon.
The killer: "Yes, that's right."
But, Mr Prentice instead put it to Ryan it was he who "savagely attacked" his "defenceless" victim.
After the verdict, the advocate depute told the court that Gordon was man who had "no criminal past whatsoever".
Mr Prentice added: "He lived alone and was employed by G4S as a security guard.
"He has been described as a quiet, unassuming man, who kept himself to himself and enjoyed a pint with close friends."
The court heard Gordon had been in a relationship with a woman from Ireland.
She had been planning to travel over to Scotland to spend Christmas with him before he was tragically killed.
Mr Prentice also revealed Ryan had been freed from jail in late January last year - just short of 11 months later he murdered again.
Ryan was only 21 when he killed lawyer Marshall Stormonth in a crime that shocked Scotland.
Along with his then 17 year-old brother Dean, he strangled the fiscal with a tie and belt before robbing a bank card, keys and money.
Mr Stormonth's home in Glasgow's North Kelvinside was then set on fire with the body still inside.
A jury at the time heard how Ryan told a witness he and his brother had met the gay fiscal in a bar and pretended to be homosexual in order to go home with him and rob him.
The court heard that Ryan's life sentence involved a punishment part of 10 years.
But, it emerged he spent double that behind bars before being freed in January last year.