Accused 'saw red' after victim's bite

A man accused of murdering a woman in his flat told gardaí he 'saw red' after she bit his penis, a jury in the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Mr John O'Neill (aged 57) from Mercer House flats, Mercer Street in Dublin has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter but not guilty to the murder of Rosemary Dowling (aged 49) at his flat between October 24 and 25, 2005.

Her naked body was found wrapped in bedclothes near his flat in the early hours of Tuesday October 25.

Detective Garda Noel Sweeney told prosecuting counsel, Mr Luán Ó Braonáin BL, that he interviewed O'Neill who called to Harcourt Terrace Garda Station voluntarily on Friday October 28 and confessed to the killing.

O'Neill said he had met the victim as she was closing up her second-hand record shop and that she was "well-oiled".

He admitted he had also been drinking and that the two went back to his flat nearby.

He denied he tried to have sex with the victim and said it was her who initially took off her clothes as they were drinking on the couch.

He said they then went into the bedroom to get into bed.

"She put me private in her mouth and bit it. She started punching me in the chest and arms and that's when I picked up the hammer. She ran out into the hall and that's when I hit her.”

He said the hammer had been in a bag of tools by the side of the bed and that after the first blow, she fell to the floor.

After that, he said she was not conscious and that he dragged her into the other room where he gave her 'another few smacks' with the hammer.

He claimed he could not believe what he had done: "I just said to myself, oh my God, what the f**k am I after Jesus doing? I just went blank."

"I was in agony with my penis. She bit it and I seen red. It was sore and it still is sore," he explained.

He said he then rolled her over into various layers of bed-clothing before securing cable around the trunk of the body.

After showering himself, he pulled the body outside the flats to the corner of the lane. He said: "I just left her there, I knew someone would find her."

Asked by gardaí whether he had used a knife on the victim's throat he said: "I don't remember the knife. When I hit her with the hammer, I just went blank."

He also admitted burning a chair, which had blood spots on it outside the flat and had set fire to some clothes and the hammer.

State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy said Ms Dowling had died following a severe assault caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

She had been struck at least 14 times with a heavy object with a small surface area and that most of the blows appeared to have been struck while the victim was concussed, unconscious or incapacitated.

She said the cut-throat injury was inflicted after the head injuries and that because the victim was 'considerably intoxicated' it effected her ability to react. She said it was impossible to know how long it would have taken her to die.

Prof Cassidy also said there was evidence of trauma to the opening and inside of the victim's vagina.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, Prof Cassidy said this vaginal bruising was just a small distance inside.

Asked whether the attack had been frenzied, she said it had been sustained and "amounted to overkill".

Forensic scientist Mr Stephen Doake told Mr Grehan that no semen was found on the deceased’s body.

Detective Superintendent PJ Browne gave evidence that she had previous convictions for breach of the peace and drunk and disorderly behaviour.

He agreed with Mr Grehan SC that she seemed to be somebody who, when drunk, showed the worst side of herself.

He agreed O'Neill was also known as a heavy drinker and could be seen with a bag of beer cans with him a lot of the time.

The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of 10 men and two women.