Man found guilty of abduction and rape of woman

A jury has convicted the owner of an escort agency of abducting a mother and her 4-year-old son and repeatedly raping the woman for hours.

Michael Murray, aged 42, of Killiney Oaks, Killiney, Co Dublin, was found guilty of carrying out what the prosecution described as a “terrifying ordeal of sexual depravity”.

Murray had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to two counts of sexual assault, two counts of rape with a make-up pen, attempted vaginal and anal rape, oral rape, and aggravated sexual assault, between Feb 12 and 13, 2010, in a Dublin city apartment.

He also denied child abduction, threats to kill or cause serious harm, false imprisonment, stealing a bank card and stealing cash from two ATMs.

After a trial that lasted 22 days, the jury took just under six hours to return a unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts.

Neither the victim, a foreign national who lives here with her husband and two children, or anyone from her family were present in court.

Detective Garda Michel Donlan told Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, that Murray’s 20 previous convictions include aggravated burglary, burglary, robbery, and possession of firearms.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy remanded Murray in custody, where he has been since his arrest a day after the attack ended. He will be sentenced in October.

The trial previously heard that Murray lured the woman inside an apartment owned by his wife’s family by convincing her that an elderly woman needed her help. It was shortly before 5pm on a Friday.

During the trial, after viewing the CCTV footage of the woman and her son going into the building with him, the victim said: “Even now I’m thinking: Why would I agree to go with him?”

When interviewed by gardaí on the Monday after the incident, the accused confessed to raping the woman and said the victim was telling the truth. In court, Murray said his confession made no sense and denied having sex with the victim.