Mother was killed for money, court hears

A 54-year-old loan company agent was killed for the money she was due to lodge in the bank, a murder trial jury at the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Opening the prosecution case, Mr Sean Gillane BL told the jury that Mary ‘Mamie’ Walsh had sustained 9 head injuries that caused significant damage to her skull and brain. She was also found with a piece of rope around her neck, which also contributed to her death.

He said they would also hear that the accused, Samuel Jennings (aged 61) was due to meet Mrs Walsh on August 30, 2004 and after this date Jennings saw a significant improvement in his financial condition and there were lodgements in bank accounts associated with him.

It was the opening day of the trial of Samuel Jennings previously of Ashtown, Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mary Walsh of Glendalligan, Kilrossanty, Co Waterford on a date unknown between August 30 and September 1, 2004. The body of the mother-of-two was found in the boot of a car on August 31st.

The jury of ten men and two women heard that Mamie Walsh worked as an agent for Provident Personal Credit Ltd. It was part of her job to lodge the loan repayments she had collected. Samuel Jennings had spent a brief time working for Provident Personal Credit Ltd and he was also a client. Mrs Walsh had given him training for the job,

Mr Gillane told the jury: “At the time of the killing Samuel Jennings was in serious financial difficulty. He had acquired a knowledge of the business and a knowledge of the lodgement of the money.”

The jury heard that Jennings had said he was in Dun Laoghaire when he was not and that he said he was in Belgium on his way to Holland when he was still in Ireland. Mr Gillane described a "pattern of activity that raises suspicion".

Peadar ‘Paddy’ Walsh, the deceased woman’s husband, told the jury that his wife had been working at home all day on Sunday August 29. She had placed the blue lodgement bag beside the bed ready to bring to the bank the next morning.

The next day he had gone off to work and had not spoken to Mrs Walsh all day. He had tried to phone her at around 4pm but was unconcerned when he failed to contact her, as she often didn’t answer the phone when she was driving. When she did not return home as usual the family began to worry. At about 7pm Mr Walsh went to see a local garda to report his wife missing.

Mr Walsh described how, at 4am on August 31, he had called his nephew Bennie White to ask him to accompany him to a “certain location in Ashtown”. The two men drove to the Jennings house with two gardaí and searched the grounds with torches. Mr Walsh told the jury that he was “afraid she could be maybe tied up inside.”

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Barry White and the jury.