Judge to accept majority verdict in Lillis trial

The jury deliberating in the trial of a cheating husband accused of murdering his wife was directed today to return a majority verdict.

As jurors prepared to begin a third day of deliberations in the Eamonn Lillis murder trial, Mr Justice Barry White said he would accept a verdict if at least 10 of them agree.

The judge also granted a request from the six men and six women that they be given the brick found at Lillis’ home where his business partner wife Celine Cawley was found dead in December 2008.

“In this case at this stage I am prepared to accept from you a majority verdict,” Mr Justice White said.

The 52-year-old television producer denies murdering his wife at their luxury home in Howth, north Dublin.

Yesterday the jury at the Central Criminal Court listened to a replay of Lillis’ account of the morning his wife died.

They later retired to the jury room with a copy of the 999 emergency call, clothing belonging to Lillis from an upstairs wardrobe and a bag and its contents.

The jurors have been deliberating for around four and a half hours since they retired on Wednesday afternoon.

The jury had been asked to try to return a unanimous verdict first on murder, manslaughter or not guilty.

During the trial, the jury heard Lillis was interviewed by gardaí and concocted a story of a burglar in the home when he came back from walking the family dog.

He later retracted the statement, claiming it had been made to protect his teenage daughter from a row he had with his wife.