There was no interference, murder trial jury tells judge

A jury in the trial of a Nigerian man accused of murdering his Jamaican born wife by hitting her in the head with a lump hammer has assured the judge that its members have not been contacted by anybody about the case.

The jury was hearing evidence on day one of the trial of Goodwill Udechuckwu (aged 32) with a previous address at Royal Canal View, Royal Canal Bank, Phibsboro who denies the murder of mother-of two Natasha Gray (aged 25) at the same address on February 18, 2003.

Following legal argument this afternoon, Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins asked the jury members if anybody had tried to contact them or interfere with them in any way in connection with the case.

He also asked whether anyone had winked at one of the female jurors.

Following a brief discussion, the jury foreman replied: "No member of the jury has had any contact in any way with anyone."

Earlier in her opening speech for the prosecution Ms Pauline Walley SC told the jury that the deceased had been hit over the head with a lump hammer in her bedroom in the early afternoon.

She said her body had been left in a child's cot and other people in the house found it with the lump hammer beside it.

She said these people were the deceased's sister Nicola Curtis and her friend Sharon Facey.

Ms Walley said the deceased had been working in hospitals in Dublin including St James's and had been studying to become a nurse.

She had moved to Ireland from Jamaica and had a child from a previous relationship before she married the accused and gave birth to a second son by him.

Ms Facey, who is also from Jamaica, said she was living with the deceased and her sister and their children when Mr Udechuckwu came to stay on Wednesday, February 12, 2003.

She said he arrived at the flat at Royal Canal View with his brother and she threw him down the keys.

She said that when she went to tell Ms Gray that her husband was downstairs she was in bed after a night shift.

She said the deceased pulled the sheet over her head and said "Jesus Christ or something like that."

The following morning she said the accused was still staying in the flat and she said there was a lot of shouting on his part which she said frightened Ms Gray.

"She wanted him out of the flat because she was not expecting him to come back," she told Ms Walley.

The witness said Ms Gray did not return home on Friday and did not come back until that Sunday morning, but had phoned her sister to tell her she was safe.

While the deceased was away Ms Facey said the accused went through Ms Gray's bags and found an itemised phone bill.

She said he was very upset because he said 85 phone calls had been made to Guy Mboze, who the court heard was the father of Ms Gray's first son.

The witness claimed the accused had also tried to access Ms Gray's emails and was on the computer for hours trying different passwords.

The witness claimed Mr Udechuckwu told her that Ms Gray had given him AIDS but she had said "no" because she had been pregnant at the same time as the deceased and they had been for check-ups together and always read each other's hospital notes.

Ms Facey told Ms Walley: "He always say your friend is a whore, she sleeps with men, she's dirty and stuff like that, always swear words against Natasha."

The trial continues tomorrow before the jury of five men and seven women.