Murder accused 'deeply sorry'
A man accused of murdering his wife in Dublin in 2007 has told the Central Criminal Court that he is “deeply sorry”.
The accused man also told the court that he thought he and his wife had a normal marriage until she told him she wanted a separation three months before her alleged murder.
David Bourke (aged 49) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Jean Gilbert (aged 46) at their home at Laverna Dale, Castleknock, Co. Dublin on August 28, 2007.
The court has previously heard that an affair between Ms Gilbert and her lover – a man she first met on a Buddhist retreat in Japan in 1986 - was rekindled four months before her death.
Ms Gilbert was stabbed four times in the back.
Today Mr Bourke told Colm Smyth SC, defending, that, until June 2007, his relationship with his wife was a “good one” and that they were “very close.”
“I thought we always got on well,” he said.
Mr Bourke, originally from Mullingar, moved to Dublin in 1993 after getting a job with Hibernian Insurance.
He married Ms Gilbert, a Buddhist, in 1995 and they had three children together.
Mr Bourke told the court that his family would take holidays every year to France and that he and his wife had planned a “beautiful holiday” to France for August 2007.
The court heard that Ms Gilbert told her husband in June of that year that she wanted to speak to him and that they met in a pub.
“She told me she wanted to split up with me, that she didn’t love me anymore. She said that I was a bit critical of her, that she loved someone else, that she never really loved me, that this other man was the love of her life and that she loved him and wanted to be with him.”
The court has previously heard that Ms Gilbert met Robert Campion in Japan in 1986 on a Buddhist trip and that they had a relationship for a year and a half but lost contact.
The court also heard that Mr Campion contacted Ms Gilbert in April 2007.
Mr Bourke said that he was “utterly devastated, so heartbroken.” He said that he told his wife that it was “crazy.”
"After all these years of marriage, three kids, just to throw it all away like that.”
The court heard that Mr Bourke found a number a letters a few days later, which his wife had received from Mr Campion.
The court has previously heard from one of those letters.
Mr Campion wrote: “The most important thing is to establish a life together... I’ve always said that not marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life.”
Mr Bourke said that his reaction to the letters was “devastation.”
Mr Bourke said that, after reading the letters, he was concerned that Mr Campion “wanted to be a father figure” to his children.
His mental state “deteriorated”, he said.
Mr Bourke also discovered emails that July that his wife and Mr Campion had written to each other.
Mr Bourke told the court that he was “gutted” after reading these emails and felt “threatened” by Mr Campion.
“He had ripped our marriage apart.”
The court heard that Ms Gilbert had moved into the “box room” and had cancelled the family holiday.
“I said: ‘What about me and the kids, what are we going to do?’
“She said that she was taking another trip, that she was going to Southampton to see [Mr Campion].
The court heard that Ms Gilbert returned from Southampton the Sunday before her death.
Mr Bourke said that he went to his parents’ house in Mullingar to collect his children and that he received a text from his wife, which said: “No need to rush back, I’m staying with a friend.”
When Mr Bourke arrived home in Castleknock that evening he saw two plates on the dinner table and his daughter said that there was “a horrible smell of B.O. and smoke” in the house.
He said that he thought his wife had brought Mr Campion to the house.
“I felt very threatened; this man over here on my doorstep, in my house, having dinner with my wife. What was going to happen? Where was this going? I just felt like a cuckold.”
Mr Bourke said that his wife returned the next morning and that they had a “blazing row.”
“We must have called each other every name under the sun,” he said.
Mr Bourke said that his wife told him she “never loved” him.
He said that he went to Howth “to clear my head” and that, when he returned, his wife asked to go out and see her mother in the Eye and Ear Hospital.
He said that he went to bed, his wife returned at 11pm and that, at approximately 5.30am,, he heard the sound of movement in the box room, where his wife was sleeping.
“She went downstairs and I heard her getting into the car. I looked out the window and saw her look up. I don’t know if she saw me. I heard her drive off.
“I knew she was gone to see him. There was no question in my mind. I was devastated, jealous, angry.”
Mr Bourke said that he went downstairs and had breakfast, then returned to bed for a while.
He said that his wife returned at approximately 10am. “I got up, had a shower. My daughter went downstairs. I put on toast for her.”
He said that his wife and two sons were in the sitting-room watching TV.
The court heard that Mr Bourke “got a hold of the knife” and went into the sitting-room.
“And I attacked her and stabbed her.”
Mr Bourke said: “I loved her so much. I just couldn’t bear it. I just couldn’t take this... It was just too much. Oh God, God forgive me.”
He said: “Please can I say to the court, to the jury, to the Gilbert family, and my three beautiful children, from the bottom of my heart how deeply sorry I am. I’m truly sorry. I really am terribly sorry.”
Isobel Kennedy SC, prosecuting, put it to Mr Bourke that he did not lose his head. “You were analytical in your process,” she said.
Mr Bourke said: “That’s not true.”
“Instead of allowing your marriage to break up you decided to kill her and you did kill her,” Ms Kennedy said.
“I never meant to kill my wife,” Mr Bourke said.
The trial continues.
