Jury resume deliberations on last of six accused of Kerry graveyard murder

The late Thomas Dooley (left) and his wife Siobhan. Five of the accused have already been convicted of murdering Mr Dooley while one was found guilty of assault causing harm to Ms Dooley.

The Tralee graveyard murder trial jury resumed their deliberations on Thursday in respect of the last of the six men accused of murdering 43-year-old Tom Dooley.

42-year-old Daniel Dooley of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, County Kerry, is the last defendant on whom the jury will have to deliberate now. From the outset he pleaded not guilty to murdering Thomas Dooley.

The jury spent a total of 16 hours and 53 minutes in deliberations across four days before their resumption on Thursday at 10.08am at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring told the jurors on Thursday as they embarked on their work that they could come back to court at any stage if they had any questions in relation to their renewed deliberations.

29-year-old Michael Dooley, of the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork, was found guilty of murder by the unanimous decision of the jury on Tuesday afternoon. Patrick Dooley, 36, from Arbutus Grove, Killarney — brother of the deceased — was found guilty of murder by the jury on Friday, July 19. 

The previous day, Thomas Dooley Sr, 43, and his son Thomas Dooley Jr, 21, both from the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork, and the teenager in the trial were found guilty of murdering father-of-seven, 43-year-old Tom Dooley from Hazelwood Drive, Killarney, at New Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on October 5, 2022. Thomas Jr. was additionally found guilty of assault causing harm to the dead man’s widow, Siobhán.

Prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly said of all six accused: “These are men working together in the business of murdering Thomas Dooley and in the business of escaping.” 

Brian McInerney senior counsel for Daniel Dooley said that the prosecution case was like a jigsaw but that “only in the middle of the trial that Siobhán Dooley announces, ‘Oh, Danny Dooley was there’… He is not forensically linked to anything, anywhere, so there is another great big hole in the jigsaw picture.” 

He said the jigsaw box had a picture on the front but that inside the box were blurred pieces, missing pieces and pieces from another box.