Gardaí found files on killing on victim’s laptop

The trial of Graham Dwyer has heard that gardaí found a number of files linked to stabbing and killing on Elaine O’Hara’s laptops.

Detective Garda Bríd Wallace of An Garda Síochána’s Computer Crime Unit also told the trial at the Central Criminal Court that she found traces of communication between Ms O’Hara and the email address, [e-mail].

Mr Dwyer, aged 42, is charged with murdering Ms O’Hara at Killakee, Rathfarnham, on August 22, 2012, hours after she was discharged from a mental health hospital. The Cork-born father of three, of Kerrymount Close, Foxrock, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 36-year-old childcare worker.

Det Garda Wallace gave details of her examination of Ms O’Hara’s laptops. She found three documents in a folder labelled ‘Read This’ on Ms O’Hara’s Apple MacBook: A book entitled 21 Techniques of Silent Killing; a booklet called Hidden Secret Weapons; and a document named Murder Inc. The Book.

Det Garda Wallace confirmed the last document was 62 pages long and appeared to be written by someone calling himself Jack the Rippa. She confirmed it identified different ways of killing people and methods for picking a target.

She also found a document entitled ‘Dyslexia and Reading.doc’ in a folder named ‘Special Ed 2’. The court had already heard Ms O’Hara was studying to be a Montessori teacher.

She opened the document, which was headed: ‘Reading and Dyslexia by Elaine O’Hara’. “It appears to be an essay or assignment of some description,” the detective said of the four-page paper.

She was able to tell the total editing time was zero minutes and concluded from this that it had not originated in this folder.

Det Garda Wallace was also able to tell from the technical details accompanying the document that it was created and last modified on November 29, 2011. Showing up in this metadata under the heading, ‘Author and Last Modified’, was adwejchert.

“It would be the profile name of the person logged into the computer,” she said.

The trial had already heard Mr Dwyer was a director at Dublin architecture fir, A&D Wejchert. The profile name, adwejchert, was one of the topics about which the defence later cross-examined her.

Det Garda Wallace also searched the MacBook for internet activity and found a Google search for a prostitute stabbed 48 times.

She next examined Ms O’Hara’s blue HP laptop and found numerous images from Google Maps, including maps of areas in the Dublin Mountains .

Det Garda Wallace also examined a computer that had been given to another person some years earlier. She explained that Ms O’Hara’s user profile had last used this Dell Inspiron in March 2010.

She could see there had been log-on attempts made to the website alt.com using the profiles SubOrSlaveForYou and Submissive391. She could also see other profiles viewed using Submissive391; one of these included Architect77, which had been viewed four times in 2007.

Another profile viewed on the site was Architect72. She found evidence connecting this profile to the email address [e-mail]. She was then able to find traces of communication between Ms O’Hara and the email address. An email from [e-mail] to Ms O’Hara on September 19, 2008, was then read out.

“I hope you’re keeping OK,” it began. “I’ve assumed you are trying to get better and trying to stay away from what we do together. I completely understand.

“I am always thinking of you and hoping you are safe and not suffering on the inside. Anytime you want, I will gladly carry out what I promised I would do, regardless of the consequences.

“All you have to do is ring me from a call box and say where and when, even if it’s months or years away. I am always waiting.

“Get in touch any time you want to for a chat or even for the simple, harmless things you want to do.”