Cork forestry workers thought woman's body was a dead pig

Noel Long is charged with murdering 54-year-old Nora Sheehan between June 6 and June 12, 1981, at an unknown place within the State. Picture: Collins Courts

Two forestry workers were searching a rural woodland 42 years ago for dumped rubbish when they found what they initially thought was a dead pig before realising they had discovered the body of a woman, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Retired garda sergeant John B O'Sullivan, 83, told the trial of Noel Long, who denies murdering Nora Sheehan, how he was the only garda on duty in the station at Inishannon village when the workers arrived so he deputised his wife to accompany him to the scene.