Man jailed for life for murder of 67-year-old Eugene Gillespie
Simon McGinley, aged 30, of Connaughton Rd Car Park, Sligo, had denied murder but admitted the manslaughter of Eugene Gillespie, aged 67, on September 22, 2012.
He had pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of Mr Gillespie and trespass to commit robbery at his home in Old Market St on September 19, 2012.
The Central Criminal Court heard the manslaughter plea was not accepted by the State.
Mr Gillespie, a retired telecoms broker who also worked in the family shop, lived alone with his dog Tiny. He had a passionate interest in antique cars and spent much of his time going to antique car rallies.
Mr Gillespie was found tied up in the hallway of his home in Old Market St by his nephew and his brother, two days after McGinley assaulted him.
McGinley, who said he only knew the deceased to see, had called 999 the day after the assault to say a man was tied up in the house.
However, gardaí went to the wrong house and Mr Gillespie was not found until the following day after his partner and family became concerned they had not heard from him.
Mr Gillespie died in hospital the following day after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Yesterday, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty of murder after five hours of deliberation.
Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan sentenced McGinley to life imprisonment, backdating it to September 29, 2012, for time spent in custody. He also handed down a 10-year sentence for the false imprisonment charge and seven years for the burglary to run concurrently with the life imprisonment.
McGinley made a 999 call to gardaí the day after the assault, saying a man was tied up in a house with brown gates. McGinley was heard saying in the call: “Across the road from the barracks over towards the brown gate, there’s a man tied up in the house. Bye, bye.”
McGinley had kicked in the gate to Mr Gillespie’s home and the court heard evidence he had made an attempt to kick in another door nearby.
He said he only went into the house to rob it and did not expect Mr Gillespie to be present.
In an interview, he told gardaí he punched Mr Gillespie with closed fists and tied him up before searching the house.
McGinley also told gardaí he was drinking and taking ‘Japanese D10s’ that day.
He also said he owed a man €150 for diazepam.
He said he looked for money downstairs but did not find any so he went upstairs and got €60 in coins but no notes and went back to his caravan in Connaughton Road Car Park .
Detective Sergeant Con Lee told the court McGinley’s brother Hughie was shot dead in Sligo in 2005.
Detective Inspector Jim Delaney said McGinley had 21 previous convictions for offences including assault causing harm, burglary and public order.
A large number of Mr Gillespie’s family were in court for the trial including one who had flown in from south Carolina.
In mitigation Blaise O’Carroll, defending, submitted McGinley made the 999 call on September 20, 2012, that he co-operated with gardaí and made full admissions.
He said his client was “truly sorry for what has happened”.
