Second night in hotel for hitman trial jury
The eight male and four female jurors will return to the Central Criminal Court at 10am today in a further attempt to agree verdicts on 10 different charges.
Sharon Collins of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, Co Clare, and Essam Eid with an address in Las Vegas, USA, are accused of conspiring to murder Ennis businessman, PJ Howard and his two sons, Robert and Niall, on a date between August 1, 2006, and September 26, 2006. Both Collins and Eid, an Egyptian national and former poker dealer, have pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The 45-year-old mother-of-two has pleaded not guilty to three other charges of soliciting her co-accused to kill her partner Mr Howard and his two sons.
Eid, 52, has also pleaded not guilty to four separate charges. They are the €100,000 extortion attempt allegedly made of Robert Howard in return for calling off the contract killing, the burglary of the Howard family business premises at Westgate Business Park, Ennis, and two counts of handling stolen property.
Although the jury had deliberated for almost three hours on Monday afternoon, they were recharged by the trial judge, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy, at the start of yesterday’s hearing following submissions made by lawyers for the prosecution and defence.
Mr Justice Murphy reminded the 12 jurors that they had to be satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt before they could convict either of the accused.
However, he stressed that a jury did not have to be satisfied to “100% accuracy”.
Before retiring to consider a verdict yesterday morning, the forewoman of the jury asked if they could see a tape of a Garda interview with Collins and a computer found in Mr Howard’s business premises as well as the test results on ricin — a lethal toxin which was allegedly in a contact lens case found in Eid’s cell in Limerick Prison.
Mr Justice Murphy said the jury’s request to see photos of the interior of Eid’s home in Las Vegas and a copy of a letter written by Mr Howard to the DPP could not be met as they did not form part of the evidence during the trial.
At about 4.13pm, the jury sought further information relating to a receipt for caster beans allegedly seen by an FBI agent who inspected a computer at Eid’s home in Las Vegas.
However, the judge informed the jurors that there had only been a reference in oral evidence to the receipt which has no supporting documentation.
The trial heard evidence caster beans were an ingredient used in making ricin.
The jury were sent to stay overnight in a hotel after failing to reach a verdict by 7pm.
The prosecution claims Collins hired Eid to kill the three Howards so she would inherit her partner’s wealth.
Counsel for the DPP claims she arranged the killing via contacting a hitman for hire internet site using an email address with the codename Lying Eyes.
It is alleged she paid a €15,000 deposit for the contract.
However, lawyers for Collins claim she sent the money in response to a blackmail threat over sexual allegations she had made against Mr Howard in an email to her writing mentor, Maria Marconi — a woman whom counsel for the DPP claims does not exist.
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