Court hears of written notes on doomed love affair

IT could have been the outline of a plot for a Mills & Boon fictional romance but one which bore more than a passing resemblance to reality.

The trial of Eamonn Lillis for the murder of his wife, Celine Cawley heard yesterday about the contents of a note found on his bedroom locker which he described to gardaí as “a short story” about a doomed love affair.

It made reference to a woman getting married to a man called Keith the following June. Gardaí pointed out that such a description fitted Jean Treacy, a 31-year-old beauty therapist with whom Lillis was having an affair.

The former advertising copywriter acknowledged that the story was “based on experience”.

Day 4 of the trial at the Central Criminal Court again made painful listening for the Cawley family as her father, Jim; brother, Chris and sister, Susanna learnt that a neighbour had heard a woman’s screaming on the morning she was attacked.

Further details also emerged about Lillis’s affair with Ms Treacy and how they had sex in what one garda described as “exciting places” including in his car outside a shopping centre in Swords.

The evidence provided an insight into Garda interrogation techniques as the transcripts of various interviews with Lillis were read out in court.

In the best tradition of Sherlock Holmes, they wondered why the couple’s dogs hadn’t barked at the intruder, especially their Rhodesian Ridgeback. “That’s not our Sam. You don’t know him,” Lillis replied.

Four days before Christmas, gardaí quizzed the accused on whether he was still holding to his story that Celine had been killed by an intruder. He did.

At that stage, they had the results of forensic tests which showed the victim’s blood on clothing found in the attic which was worn by Lillis on the day of her death.

“Jesus, they were loading up,” remarked Lillis who had posited the theory that one or more intruders had moved the clothes from where he had left them in the kitchen.

Detective Garda Patrick Flood admitted he had put it to the accused that he was a “decent, soft bloke” with no history of being nasty or violent but that “shit happens, people f**k up”.

“There had to be an explanation for what happened that morning in Howth. He was the only person who could tell us,” said Det Gda Flood.

His colleague, Detective Garda Paul Donoghue suggested to Lillis that his report of an intruder was “a cock and bull story” as he had never heard of burglars stashing material in attics to retrieve at a later stage.

He claimed Lillis’s explanation that the scratches on his face were due to a gesture of love by his wife was “preposterous”. “You’re in the film industry. You should be better at making up things up,” remarked the detective at one stage, adding that the accused’s description of the intruder “wouldn’t hack it in Postman Pat”.

The Cawley family also sat silently in the back row of the courtroom as they heard how gardaí had put it to Lillis that his late wife was “a strong, dominant, opinionated” businesswoman “slightly on the bullying side” who earned €500,000 per annum compared to his salary of €100,000.

Gardaí suggested that she would regularly shout at her husband and he was her “lapdog”.

Lillis explained to gardaí that the couple had slept in separate beds since shortly after the birth of their daughter so that one of them would not have their sleep disturbed. It was not a reflection on their relationship or marriage, he insisted.

Asked why he had then engaged in an affair with a younger woman, Lillis supposed it was a “mid-life attraction”.

He later stressed that he would never divorce Celine and they had “never had a physical row” during their marriage.

Asked by one garda if it was more important to have washed his hands than assist his wife as she lay dying, Lillis replied: “I think that is an unfair observation.”

As the numbers in the public gallery to watch the trial swelled over the past week, a video link was available yesterday to allow proceedings to be broadcast on six large screens in a separate room at the Criminal Courts of Justice. Few of those standing in the crowded room chose the more comfortable option.