Murder victim may have lain injured for several hours

MURDERED mother-of-two Rachel O’Reilly may have lain injured for several hours before she died, her husband’s trial at the Central Criminal Court was told.

State pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy gave evidence that Rachel, aged 30, could have died any time between 9am and 3pm on the day her blood-soaked body was found but, although she would have been knocked unconscious by blows to her head, she would not have died immediately.

Prof Cassidy, who carried out the post-mortem examination, told the court the deceased suffered eight lacerations to her head, “two to the top of the head, two directly behind her right ear, two above her right ear and two to the back of the head”. They were caused by a “minimum of four separate blows, but up to nine separate blows” and, in two of the places where there were lacerations, her skull was fractured. She also suffered a fractured cheek bone and jaw bone on the left side of her face.