Lawyers for Sean Dunne and his wife, Gayle Killilea-Dunne, failed in their bid yesterday to prevent Nama’s legal team from adding an expert attorney on fraudulent transfers during a hearing at Stamford Superior Court.

Lawyers for Sean Dunne and his wife Gayle Killilea yesterday insisted that three US properties which are the subject of a Nama investigation were bought using her own money and not as a result of an asset transfer.

A respected TV producer accused of trying to blackmail chat show host David Letterman for $2m (€1.4m) was desperate and deep in debt, prosecutors said.

A US Supreme Court has unanimously upheld Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel’s murder conviction, more than 30 years after a killing that sparked decades of intrigue.