Court to hear O’Reilly’s appeal against conviction for wife’s murder

CONVICTED killer Joe O’Reilly will launch a bid for freedom today when his lawyers seek to overturn his conviction for murder at the Court of Criminal Appeal.

O’Reilly, 36, will travel from his cell in the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, Co Laois, to appear in what is expected to be a packed courtroom in the Four Courts for the hearing.

The advertising executive was convicted unanimously by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last year of the murder of his wife, Rachel O’Reilly, at their home in Lambay View, Baldarragh, the Naul, on October 4, 2004. The 30-year-old mother of two was beaten to death in the bedroom of the family home with a blunt instrument, although the murder weapon was never found.