Duke, a Dogue de Bordeaux, meant everything to Ashley Walsh. His girlfriend even said she sometimes thought Ashley loved the dog more than her.
To the bitter end, Duke looked out for Ashley. The pair were inseparable. And his protective nature provided police with a key breakthrough when Ashley went missing in suspicious circumstances.
At first Claire Williams wasn't too concerned about her partner's disappearance. Ashley, who liked a drink, had gone on benders in the past and returned days later.
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She'd kissed him goodbye on a Friday evening, and he'd called her shortly after to say he'd arrange his own tea. Over the weekend Claire became angry at her partner of nearly five years for not returning her messages, but she expected him to turn up eventually.
He'd been due to start a job with a roofing company on the Monday morning. But when Duke was found roaming alone around Boggart Hole Clough, she began to fear for his safety.
"This is when I knew something was wrong, as I knew Ashley would never leave that dog," she said. A post on Facebook told how a dog had been found 'barking and obviously distressed'. Ashley's sister Hope Walsh saw the post.
By this time Ashley had not been seen for five days, but had not yet been reported missing. Hope decided to turn detective.
She knocked on doors in the area and was provided with CCTV footage which showed Duke with two men. She knew the pair as Aaron Evitt and Gerard McGlacken, who were cousins.
Earlier on Friday, January 7, Ashley had called Evitt, a 'close friend', and arranged to meet up. They had headed to McGlacken's flat in Collyhurst, where Evitt had been staying after being kicked out by his girlfriend.
After Duke was found at Manchester Dog's Home, Claire's concerns for her Ashley's safety led her to report him missing to police. "It was really when the dog turned up at the dogs home that I thought something could have happened to Ashley," she said.
The same day, Hope decided to confront Evitt herself. His catalogue of lies began.
At first he denied seeing Ashley that night. When Hope pressed him, he claimed the trio had got 'absolutely bladdered' and Ashley had left the flat by the time he'd woke up.
Evitt and McGlacken were arrested a week after Ashley had last been seen by Claire. Two days later, the grisly fate of Ashley was revealed after a stunning disclosure.
It was just before midnight on Sunday, January 16, when Evitt finally cracked. During five interviews with police over two days, he'd been sticking to the lie that Ashley had vanished after he'd woken up.
As custody officers took him from his cell to smoke a cigarette, the game was finally up. Evitt said: "Its gone on too long.
"You're going to need a van. I need to show you where he is."
About an hour later, accompanied by six police officers, Evitt made the five minute journey from Central Park police station in Newton Heath, to Sandshill Park in Collyhurst.
Evitt directed police to a graffiti ridden wall within the park. Shortly after, Ashley was finally found.
Four suitcases had been crudely placed under some leaves within the park. What officers found inside would shock even the most grizzled cop.
Ashley had been dismembered, his remains stuffed inside bin bags within the cases. After an unimaginably painful nine days since his last confirmed sighting, Ashley's family had eventually learned his horrendous fate.
Police were tasked with piecing together exactly how Ashley had come to die. A post-mortem examination on Ashley's remains provided key clues surrounding his death. He'd suffered 102 separate injuries, and had not been alive when he'd been dismembered.
But Ashley had still been alive while he was stabbed, the pathology suggested. Police turned their attention to McGlacken's flat in Kintore Walk, Collyhurst, the house of horrors where Ashley had been dismembered.
Officers noticed a distinct aroma of cleaning products and disinfectant within the bathroom, with the flat was otherwise being in a state. Bleach and disinfectant was seized, with Evitt and McGlacken's fingerprints on them.
Within Ashley's remains, a latex glove with McGlacken's bloodied fingerprint was recovered. Quite how a Friday night, which began with drinks and good natured fun, ended up in one of Manchester's most horrific murders in recent times, only Evitt and McGlacken will ever know. In court they blamed each other.
Evitt said Ashley had called him that afternoon and arranged to meet up, as they hadn't seen each other for a while. The trio, who all worked in the building trade, drank brandy and beer at McGlacken's flat. Ashley brought Duke with him, and the mood was jovial at first.
Evitt smoke cannabis and McGlacken sniffed cocaine. An argument broke out after Ashley claimed he'd slept with Evitt's ex.
Evitt said the pair came to blows and claimed that Ashley hit him with a hammer. But a judge said claims that he acted in self defence were a lie. Evitt repeatedly hit him to the head and face with a hammer, causing serious injuries.
At first McGlacken blamed Evitt for the stab wounds which Ashley suffered. But in a dramatic courtroom 'confession', McGlacken admitted he'd lied under oath, and he'd actually stabbed Ashley. He claimed he'd stabbed Ashley believing he was already dead.
But this assertion contradicted the pathological evidence that Ashley was still alive when he was stabbed. In the witness box, Evitt turned his fire on his cousin. "He made me believe that I had killed him," Evitt said. "It was all Ged," he added.
McGlacken claimed he'd 'needed to get rid' of Ashley's body to 'protect' Evitt. He recounted in gruesome detail how he used an ornamental samurai sword, kitchen knives, a hammer and an electric saw to dismember Ashley.
McGlacken even cut his little finger off, to get rid of his ring in a bid to avoid the body being identified. The pair decided to come up with a 'story' that Ashley had left after he'd 'got off with a girl'. Left with Duke after Ashley's brutal death, they abandoned the dog in Boggart Hole Clough.
But the trail was always going to lead back to them. Lie after lie, their stories crumbled under scrutiny. The pair forced Ashley's family to endure a crown court trial, where details of his final, harrowing moments were revealed for all to hear.
Some found the details too distressing to remain in court. But now, they have at least secured justice for Ashley, a dad who loved motorbikes and spending time with his family.
And that justice was in no small part secured after his trusty dog helped raise the alarm following his disappearance. Duke has now been reunited with Ashley's family, and is being looked after by his best friend's mum.
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