Bullet went straight through murder victim's head, trial hears

The Deputy State Pathologist has told a murder trial that the bullet used to shoot a young carpenter in Limerick in 2009, traveled straight through his head piercing his brain and fracturing his skull.

Dr Khalid Jabbar said 25-year-old Daniel Fitzgerald also sustained a through and through gunshot wound to his thigh, which damaged the main arteries, causing significant blood loss.

Dr Jabbar told the jury the injury would have “hampered his ability to survive” the gunshot wound to the head.

Mr Fitzgerald was shot dead outside his uncle's home at Ballysimon in Limerick on December 8, 2009.

He had spent the day working with his uncle in the city and returned home with him to have dinner with his aunt and cousins. As he was leaving at around 9.30pm, a car pulled into the property.

Mr Fitzgerald's uncle, Paul Fitzgerald, has told the trial that he heard a series of bangs within seconds of Daniel leaving, and he screamed at his wife and children to get on the floor before their home was sprayed with bullets.

When he heard a car screech away he ran outside to find his nephew slumped on the ground, in a pool of blood. He covered him with blankets while they waited for paramedics to arrive.

Mr Fitzgerald said he tried talking to Daniel, but he was unresponsive and was having difficulty breathing.

His nephew was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead fifteen minutes later after efforts to revive him failed.

Gardaí arrested the then 19-year-old Kenneth Collopy at his home, not far from the Fitzgerald's house, later that night.

Collopy (aged 20) of Kilonan, Ballysimon is on trial at the Central Criminal Court and has denied murdering Mr Fitzgerald.

During follow-up searches of property close to the Colopy home, Gardaí discovered a green Toyota Corolla in which there were a number of spent bullet casings.

They also recovered a Glock semi-automatic handgun as well as remnants of burnt clothing.

Giving evidence on day two of the trial, Dr Jabbar told the jury of nine women and three men that the bullet had entered the back of Mr Fitzgerald's head under his left ear. It fractured his skull and traveled straight through his brain before exiting at the right temple.

The second bullet went through the back of his right thigh and exited through the front. He said the wounds were most likely “distant wounds” as there was no evidence they were contact or close-range.

The cause of death was a traumatic brain injury caused by the gunshot wound to the head, with the internal haemorrhage in his thigh a contributory factor.

Dr Jabbar also found a pellet from an air-rifle in Mr Fitzgerald's neck during the post-mortem exam, but said it had nothing to do with the gunshot wounds.

Noel Fitzgerald, Daniel's father, took the witness stand to explain to the jury that Mr Fitzgerald had been accidentally shot in the neck with an airgun when he was a teenager and had been messing with friends.

He said doctors had not removed it because it was too close to his spinal cord.

Mr Fitzgerald also confirmed that he identified his son's body for the Gardaí at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in December 2009.

The trial resumes on Monday, March 21.