Jury warned of gruesome evidence as Cork murder trial opens

Dismembered body was found at a derelict house in Cork by man looking for his cat

Ionut Cosmin Nicholescu, 30, with an address at Branistea Village, Damovita County, Romania, pleaded not guilty to the single count of murder of Francis (Frankie) Dunne, above.

A neighbour searching for his missing cat discovered the naked body of Cork man Francis Dunne with his head and arms missing, the opening day of his murder trial heard.

Romanian national Ionut Cosmin Nicholescu, 30, has gone on trial for the murder of the 64 year-old whose dismembered body was found on the grounds of a derelict house in Cork city during Christmas 2019.

The jury has been warned to expect gruesome evidence in the case in which Mr Nicholescu, with an address at Branistea Village, Damovita County, Romania, has pleaded not guilty to the single count of murdering Francis (Frankie) Dunne on a date unknown between December 27 and December 28 2019 at Castlegreine House, Boreenamanna Road.

Prosecution senior counsel Ray Boland gave Mr Justice Paul McDermott and the jury of eight women and four men an outline of the evidence which the prosecution expects in the three-week trial.

On Saturday, December 28, 2019, a neighbour who was looking for his missing cat went into the garden of a large derelict property known as Castlegreine House on Boreenmanna Road.

“He looked under a tree and he came upon a body, naked but for socks, his arms and head missing. Gardaí were called. The arms were found on the scene. There were two refuse sacks containing a man’s head and clothes.

“He was a 64-year-old alcoholic living in a dry house for the homeless (Clanmornin House on Boreenmanna Road, operated by Cork Simon Community). It was known that he would hide drink in the garden of Castlegreine House before returning to Clanmornin House.” 

Mr Boland said the house was boarded up and had no plumbing or electricity but that an upstairs room was used as a squat by the accused man in this case, who is from Romania and at that time was working as a chef in the Silver Key pub.

The deceased left Clanmornin House on Friday night, December 27, 2019 at 7.25pm and went to The Office off-licence on Douglas Street to buy drink.

 At 7.54pm, the accused was shopping in Aldi. At 8.24pm two men walking past Castlegreine House heard sounds. Mr Boland SC said he would leave it to them to tell the jury exactly what they heard at that time.

Cause of death

On December 28, 2019, pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers established the cause of death as neck compression and blunt trauma to the head. Glass fragments were found in the skull of the deceased consistent with being struck with a bottle or bottles. The prosecution case is that the killing occurred in a garden of Castlegreine House. The post-mortem conclusion was that “dismemberment occurred after death — he was dead when the head and arms were removed”, the senior counsel said.

Mr Boland said: “On the night he was killed, the accused stayed where he had been squatting in the derelict house in Castlegreine. He went to work as usual on the day following the murder — the Saturday. He was in work in the Silver Key. When he came back from work he did not return to Castlegreine House. There were gardaí present.

“The accused slept in the attic over the staff toilets in the Silver Key … occasionally, unbeknownst to anyone.

“(Later) in the early hours of the morning he went by bus through Dundalk, Belfast and to Edinburgh and back to Romania.” 

There were phone calls between the accused and then Detective Inspector Vincent O’Sullivan. On January 16, 2020, a number of gardaí travelled to Romania for an interview with the accused carried out by Romanian police.

'Phantoms'

“He gave an account to Romanian police … What he said was that he did come back to Castlegreine House on the night of the murder. He came in the gate. He intended to sleep there. To his right, Frankie Dunne — who he did not know — was on the ground, not conscious. Standing over him were two men. He gave descriptions of them — one armed with a machete, one armed with a knife.

“They threatened him to help them with arrangements being made to dispose of the body … One man cut off Frankie Dunne’s head and arms with a knife. One man gave him (the accused) refuse sacks and instructed him to put the body under the tree and put the head of Frankie Dunne in a refuse bag. It was found under a tree. And to put the clothes of Frankie Dunne in a refuse sack.

“(The accused told Romanian police) he was afraid of these people — that is why he complied.  He turned around and they were gone. If that is what happened, he is innocent.

“It is the state’s case that these two people were not there. They did not exist or that they had nothing to do with the death of Frankie Dunne. It is the state’s case that these men were phantoms.”

 Facial identikits of the two men described by the accused were not made or circulated by gardaí investigating the murder as it was their belief that they had nothing to do with the crime, Mr Boland said.

Mr Boland said it was a matter for the jury to decide on the significance of evidence but he suggested that an alleged bloodstain on a roll of refuse sacks found inside Castlegreine House was significant.

It is anticipated that the trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork could take up to three weeks.