Bizarre hitman plot reveals its final twist

“EXTRAORDINARY and bizarre.”

Counsel for the DPP, Una Ní Raifeartaigh was in no danger of understating the nature of the evidence heard in the hitman for hire murder conspiracy trial over the past two months when summing up the case for the prosecution last Friday.

She could have added “exhausting” and “sad” after three painstaking days this week when all parties nervously awaited verdicts which ultimately took the jury just one minute short of 11 hours to reach.

Summer has practically been and gone outside the Four Courts since Ennis woman, Sharon Collins and Las Vegas-based poker dealer, Essam Eid first went on trial in mid-May.

But for the serious nature of the offences, there would almost be something comical about the way the slender blonde woman contacted a US-based internet site offering a hitman for hire service using an email address with the codename Lying Eyes.

The irony that Collins had used the title of a famous ’70s hit by the Eagles that recounted the tale of how a younger woman had cheated on an older man was not lost on anyone during the 32-day hearing.

The lyrics of the song might suggest the woman’s smile was a thin disguise but yesterday Sharon Collins — who was accused of smiling at jury members earlier in the trial in a bid to win their favour — had little inclination for any display of good humour.

Accompanied as she had been for most of the trial by her sons, Gary and David, both in their early 20s, Collins had maintained a brave front since the jury were first sent out to consider their verdict on Monday afternoon.

Dressed in a dark pinstripe trouser suit, she remained stony-faced when it was finally announced the jury had reached a verdict on some of the 10 counts they had to consider. Her face betrayed no emotion as she heard they had found her guilty of soliciting Eid to kill her partner, PJ Howard and his two sons.

David, her younger son, shook his head in disbelief. Gary gazed ashen-faced at the floor as both men fought to hold back their tears.

The genuine affection between mother and her children was evident as all three exchanged tender hugs and clasps as they endured a further wait of 30 minutes before the jury came back with more bad news — Collins was also guilty of conspiring to murder the man with whom all three had lived in Ennis for several years as well as his two sons.

After returning from a visit to the toilet Collins’s pale face had reddened considerably about her eyes and nose — the reality of the situation finally hitting home after Mr Justice Roderick Murphy rejected an application to allow her to remain on bail until a sentencing hearing in the autumn.

In contrast to his co-accused, Eid’s demeanour remained jovial throughout the lengthy trial as the Egyptian, who read occasionally from a copy of the Koran, regularly smiled and exchanged pleasantries with his legal team and prison warders.

While the jury failed to agree verdicts on charges he conspired with Collins to murder the three Howards, he was convicted of extortion by demanding €100,000 with menace from Robert Howard and two other counts of handling stolen property.

Given the fact he has been in custody for more than a year, the source of Eid’s upbeat outlook remains a mystery unless he is blessed with some sense of black humour.

There was a touch of the Sopranos in the way it emerged the 52-year-old had used the pseudonym Tony Luciano as the would-be assassin.

No doubt, such facts all contributed to the observation by Ms Ní Raifeartaigh last week the plan hatched by Collins resembled the plot of a cheap thriller.

In truth, Hollywood’s finest scriptwriters could hardly come up with a more mind-stretching storyline than the trial that had everything including an appearance by RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan.

But even that was trumped by the sight of PJ Howard embracing his partner as he left the witness box, having expressed disbelief she had hired someone to kill him and presumably being aware she had written to Ryan’s show to claim he was sleeping with transvestites and prostitutes, while also trying to get her to sleep with other men.

As Collins reflects on all that has happened she might recall another line of Lying Eyes when the female character “wonders how it ever got this crazy”.

Another Eagles song could prove more apposite for Eid — Desperado.