Clare widower was 'severely beaten' to point he was 'unrecognisable', murder trial told
Witness told Central Criminal Court murder trial on Thursday that murder-accused Thomas Lorigan told him he had a row with his uncle the night before the body was found.
A Garda witness has described to a jury the moment she found the body of a 79-year-old widower, who had been "severely beaten" to the point where he was "unrecognisable".
A witness also told the Central Criminal Court murder trial on Thursday that murder-accused Thomas Lorigan told him he had a row with his uncle the night before the body was found.
Mr Lorigan, 34, of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murdering John O'Neill, 79, at St Brendan’s Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare, on a date unknown between January 6 and 7, 2022.
The trial has heard Mr Lorigan was known by the nickname 'Mossy' in the Clare area and was the deceased's nephew. The trial has heard Mr O'Neill, who lived alone, had run a bed and breakfast at his home along with his wife, who died in the summer of 2021.
It is the prosecution's case the pensioner died after a vicious attack by his nephew, who they submit had repeatedly kicked him to the head while wearing steel capped boots.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Garda Louise Keogh told Eilis Brennan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, she was on duty at 8.06am on January 7 when she received a call to check the welfare of the owner of O'Neills B&B due to an altercation the previous night.
The garda said there was no answer at the front door of the house but could see a light on in the kitchen area when she walked through an archway towards the back of the house. Her colleague, Garda Sarah Tubbert, attempted to open a side door with a set of keys but had no luck.
When Garda Keogh looked through frosted glass at the back of the house she could see a person lying on the ground. She found a man lying on the ground when they gained entry by breaking a window.
"He was lifeless, severely beaten and there was blood at the top around his head. The man was unrecognisable and there was a broken vase beside his head," she said.
Paramedic Melissa Power said she had climbed through a window into the kitchen area on the morning of January 7 and found a body lying on the ground with very obvious facial injuries and quite a lot of blood. She confirmed the man's death at 9.15am.
Walter Burke, 56, told Ms Brennan he lived alone in Lisdoonvarna and got to know the accused man — whom he knew as "Mossy" — in a local pub in the weeks leading up to Christmas 2021.
"It was a chance meeting and talking or whatever. I thought he was a guy down on his luck," Mr Burke said.
Mr Burke said the accused occasionally came to his home and had stayed the night at least three times.
The witness said the accused stayed in his house on January 5 and they had a few drinks together on the following day, January 6.
The witness said the accused left his house at one point on the night of January 6 and returned to his house before midnight and told him he had "a row with somebody".
Mr Burke said he asked the accused who the row was with and explained to the jury this was when he "discovered" it was with Mr O'Neill. He said Mossy did not give him a reason for the row and he did not know until then that Mr O'Neill was the accused's uncle.
The witness said he knew Mr O'Neill as he would have walked by his house every day when going into the village.
Asked by Ms Brennan whether Mr Lorigan had described the row, the witness said his interpretation was that the pair had words. "I just thought an argument, I honestly didn't read anymore into it,"
The witness told counsel he had not noticed anything about the accused's jeans that night but "in hindsight" had seen stains or "scuffs" on them the following morning.
Mr Burke said during the night the accused mentioned to him that he felt the row "was more serious than he first told me" and that somebody could be hurt.
Mr Burke said the next morning after "a third conversation about it", he began to think Mr O’Neill might be hurt and need medical help. The witness rang the emergency services when the accused went upstairs.
Mr Burke left his house at 9am that morning and saw gardaí and emergency services outside Mr O'Neill's home. "I went over to gardaí and introduced myself and said it was me who made the call." He also told gardaí the accused was in his house.
Asked again by prosecution counsel what the accused had told him, the witness said: "Mossy said it was a more serious row than he originally thought — that's what I interpreted from him."
Under cross-examination, Mr Burke told Michael Bowman SC, defending Mr Lorigan, that he was an alcoholic but had not drunk in two years. He said at the time he had been drinking since the morning of January 6 but had not drunk to excess as he was coming off a binge.
Mr Bowman put it to the witness that Mr Lorigan had not arrived at his house until before midnight on January 6 and was not in his house during the day. The witness disagreed with this.
The defence barrister said the accused's instructions were that no conversations took place with Mr Burke that night or the following morning. The witness disagreed with the barrister.
Mr Bowman further put it to the witness that his client would say he never wore a pair of jeans or boots found at the house. Mr Burke replied that as long as he knew Mossy he had always worn those boots.
The trial continues.
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