Woman’s death not accidental, jury hears
Opening the case for the prosecution at the Central Criminal Court, John O’Kelly said the accused, Oliver Hayes, could not wash his hands of his actions.
Mr O’Kelly told the jury that Hayes had shown “a callous and cold reaction” following Ms Corcoran’s death in his home by repeatedly taking money out of her bank accounts and heading of on a holiday to Austria.
Hayes, aged 50, of Clancool Terrace, Bandon, Co Cork, has denied a charge of murdering Ms Corcoran on a date between January 19 and January 21, 2009. His plea of guilty to manslaughter has been rejected by the DPP.
The court heard Ms Corcoran lived on her own on a farm at Maulnaskimlehane, Kilbrittain several miles outside Bandon following the death of her husband, Jerry in 2007. The widow was described as an active person who had good friends and who derived great pleasure from her two pet dogs.
“She was somebody who was enjoying her life,” said Mr O’Kelly.
However, he said that on an evening in January 2009, she was being watched by Hayes who intended to rob her because he believed she kept money in the property.
Hayes had also brought a couple of feet of yellow rope with him in case he needed to tie Ms Corcoran up.
He lay in wait for his victim as she drove off from the isolated farmhouse before returning 20 minutes later. As she opened her front door, Hayes grabbed her from behind and pushed her inside.
Although a small woman, Mr O’Kelly said she fought back and struggled against Hayes as he demanded money and bank cards and their PIN numbers from Ms Corcoran.
He managed to bundle Ms Corcoran into the boot of her green Peugeot 206 and drove around hoping she would be persuaded to give him what he was looking for.
However, she managed to get out of the boot and into the back of the vehicle. But Hayes tied her legs with a dog leash and drove around for another hour before returning to his home in Bandon, where he dragged her out of the car and up to an upstairs bedroom.
Ms Corcoran gave Hayes the PIN numbers to access her bank cards after which he struck her a number of blows to the head with a stick and later a table top because he wanted to knock her out, Mr O’Kelly said.
The trial heard he also stuffed part of a shirt into her mouth as a gag.
Hayes left the bleeding and unconscious woman in his house as he returned to ransack his victim’s home where he found her bank cards.
He then went back into Bandon where he unsuccessfully tried to take money from the Bank of Ireland ATM in the town but managed to extract the maximum daily withdrawal of €600 from the AIB cash machine.
When Hayes returned home, Ms Corcoran was lying on the bedroom floor apparently unconscious but still alive. Mr O’Kelly said the accused then went and slept downstairs and found his victim dead the following day.
The prosecution barrister said Hayes demonstrated no sign of shock or remorse for his actions as he went back again to take another €600 out of the ATM.
Over the following days, he took out a total of €3,000 of Ms Corcoran’s money using her bank cards at ATMs in Bandon and Innishannon.
“All the time, Ms Corcoran was lying dead in his house,” Mr O’Kelly reminded the jury.
Over the next few days, Hayes paid off bills and car insurance and went off with his girlfriend and her son on a skiing holiday to Austria.
“These were the things which seemed to be most important to him,” remarked Mr O’Kelly.
Two days before he went on holiday, Hayes wrapped Ms Corcoran’s body in bin bags and brought it by car to a wooded area near Ballinspittle.
The court heard that he carried his victim’s corpse 450 yards deep into the wood before throwing petrol on it, setting the body alight and burying it.
Mr O’Kelly said none of these matters were known initially as concern about Ms Corcoran’s whereabouts had not been reported to gardaí until January 27-28 last year, when workmen at her home were concerned that her dogs had been left in the house which was covered in dog faeces.
Another man had reported seeing Ms Corcoran’s car opposite a garage at Oldchapel, Bandon, which he found “a bit odd”, while one of her friends was concerned that she had been uncontactable for a number of days.
The court heard the last known contact by Ms Corcoran was when she phoned a doctor’s surgery at 4.54pm on January 19, 2009.
Mr O’Kelly said gardaí had become concerned when they forced an entry to Ms Corcoran’s home.
A check on her bank accounts revealed that the daily maximum withdrawal had been taken out every day over a five-day period from her AIB account, while there had been one unsuccessful attempt to take money from her Bank of Ireland account.
CCTV evidence showed the transactions were usually made on either side of midnight. Although the identity of the person making the withdrawals from the ATMs was not clear because he was wearing a cap or a hood, Mr O’Kelly said other evidence pointed towards Hayes as a possible suspect.
The defendant was subsequently arrested and a search of his house revealed traces of Ms Corcoran’s blood in various places including on a stick.
Although Hayes initially denied any role in Ms Hayes’ disappearance, he eventually admitted his actions. He told gardaí that he had wanted Ms Corcoran unconscious after she had given him the PIN numbers for her bank cards.
“When he couldn’t knock her out with a stick, he battered over the head with a table top,” said Mr O’Kelly.
The barrister said a postmortem showed the victim had died from her head wounds and the gag which had affected her breathing.
Mr O’Kelly said it was nonsense for the accused to argue that he had only set out to rob his victim and then decided he didn’t want her conscious back in his house.
The barrister instructed the jury of seven men and five women that they would have to be satisfied “beyond reasonable doubt” that Hayes was guilty of murder.
