Woman accused of murdering ex-husband 'loved but feared him'

Rita O'Driscoll said he did not deserve to die, 'but I don't need to look over my shoulder any more'.

Tue, 20 Oct, 2020 - 17:37

The woman accused of murdering her ex-husband in Macroom, Co Cork said she loved him and he did not deserve to die, but she also feared him and called him “a murderer and a battered woman beater”.

Rita O’Driscoll was asked by gardaí investigating the case if she had feelings for the man, and she replied: “Of course I do. He is my husband, the father of my children. Timmy was always making me rob for him, cleaning up after him.

“He beat me with a bar when I was pregnant. He got 21 months in prison.

"I put my hand up to protect my head. My hand was deformed. They had to put two screws and a plate in it.

“He was torture, his brother evil. I feel he did not deserve to die, but I don’t need to look over my shoulder anymore. No more belts of the bottle off the head.

"I loved my husband. I think it was love. I was used to abuse. I didn’t know any other life.

“I was riddled in fear. I was saying: ‘Leave me alone.’ He nearly murdered me before. ‘You are trying to do it again,’ he said, ‘You silly bitch, I am three steps ahead of you.’ ”

This evidence, from another memo of an interview with the accused, was read yesterday to Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of seven women and five men at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

Rita O’Driscoll (aged 48) of Bridge St, Bandon, Co Cork, denies murdering 44-year-old Timmy Foley at 12 Dan Corkery Place, Macroom, Co Cork, on October 8, 2018, and a charge of assault causing serious harm to the deceased man’s brother, Jason Foley.

Ms O’Driscoll also said of the late Timmy Foley: “He did not have morals, he took control of my mind. He kept coming back to me no matter who he went with… He used to hear voices.

“He used to call Mike a batty-boy. He said he was going to kill him. He said he would do life for killing his son for making a show of him… He said: ‘There’s no gay Foleys’.

“I was back with my husband [before the night in October 2018], back in a relationship for the last couple of months. We were off for the last few years. We are Travellers. Travellers take their vows very serious.”

In relation to what allegedly happened in the house that night, she told gardaí: “I knew what Timmy was like. Timmy would knife me to death…

"If someone comes at you with a knife, you will fight for your life. I stabbed him twice.

"I don’t know where I got the strength from. Probably fear. I had that fear of dying inside the house.

“He stabbed me in the head and in the hand. I knew he was going to go for the heart next if I did not get that knife.

“Jason was stabbing him and stabbing him and stabbing him. I said stop… Jason is evil and one of the greatest actors you could meet.”

The case will go into its 10th day tomorrow.