‘Cold case’ murder trial: DNA from man accused of murder found on vulnerable victim’s body, court hears

A jury will hear evidence that infers a now 74-year-old man murdered a vulnerable woman whose “naked and bruised body” was found by forestry workers dumped in dense undergrowth in Cork 42 years ago, a prosecution barrister has told a cold case murder trial.

The 12 jurors were also told by the State on Thursday that this provides an explanation for the semen retrieved from the victim, which matches the accused man Noel Long’s DNA.

Senior Counsel Brendan Grehan, prosecuting, also told the jury that other evidence in the case, including that retrieved from Mr Long’s car, along with and other circumstances, should ultimately lead them to the “irresistible conclusion” that the accused man is responsible for Nora Sheehan’s death, which the State’s contend is murder.

Amongst one of the first witnesses called by the prosecution to give evidence in the trial was the deceased’s son James Sheehan, who told the Central Criminal Court jury that his mother “was a bit eccentric” and would freely speak her mind.

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Other witnesses described Ms Sheehan as being a “vulnerable person” and “eccentric”.

Noel Long with an address at Maulbawn, Passage West, Co. Cork has pleaded not guilty to murdering 54-year-old Nora Sheehan between June 6th and June 12th, 1981 at an unknown place within the State. Her body was found by forestry workers at The Viewing Point, Shippool Woods in Cork six days after she went missing.

Opening the prosecution’s case today, Brendan Grehan SC said that this is a case of “some antiquity” involving a murder over 42 years ago.

Mr Grehan said because it is such an old case it does have consequences and not all witnesses would be available. He added that a lot of the physical exhibits that might have been available 42 years ago are not going to feature in the case as some have become unavailable over time, some have been lost, some destroyed and one does not know what happened to others.

The prosecution barrister went on to tell the court that the case itself is what the jury might have heard describe in a generic sense or in popular culture as “a cold case”. He said that is an unsolved murder that is revisited by investigators years after the event.

Outlining the facts of the case, Mr Grehan said Ms Sheehan lived in Ballyphehane in Cork city with her husband James, who died in 1985. The couple had three sons, James Junior, Jeremiah and Hugh; all of whom are still alive and two of whom are present in court today, he said. The barrister said one of the deceased’s sons would give evidence in the case.

Ms Sheehan had previously worked in a hospital, had suffered some sort of fall there and some sort of ill health “whether arising from that or otherwise”. He said the jury would hear from various witnesses that knew or had seen Ms Sheehan around the time of her death.

The barrister said that Ms Sheehan had developed “some eccentricities” and had some obsessions about a nearby hospital. As a result of that, she was often seen out on the roads near her home and on public streets attempting to wave down cars and talking to people about the goings-on at the hospital, which she was concerned about. “She would be described in modern parlance as a vulnerable person,” he added.

Detailing the evidence that will be heard, Mr Grehan said two dogs had got into a fight near Ms Sheehan’s home on Saturday June 6th 1981 and she suffered a dog bite to her left arm in the course of seeking to separate the animals. Ms Sheehan was treated for the bite at the South Infirmary Hospital in Cork.

There will be evidence, Mr Grehan said, from a nurse who treated her in the hospital around 9pm and that Ms Sheehan had left before 10pm that night. Ms Sheehan was seen by a doctor, had a bandage applied to the wound on her arm and was given a tetanus shot. Ms Sheehan was seen by people before and after she went to the hospital “in particular behaving somewhat oddly and waving down cars”, he said.

Counsel said there will be evidence from witnesses that saw Ms Sheehan between midnight on June 6th until as late as 4am on June 7th but that she was not seen alive after that. She was reported missing to Togher Garda station by her husband and her son James and was a missing person until June 12th 1981.

The court will also hear evidence, the lawyer said, that Garda John B O’Sullivan was stationed at Inishannon Garda station in Co Cork about 26km away from where Ms Sheehan was last seen, when at 3pm on June 12 1981, he was visited by two forestry workers who are now deceased. The two men reported to Gda O’Sullivan that they found what looked like a body while working at Shippool Woods, some two miles away from Inishannon and were clearly upset by what they had discovered.

Mr Grehan said Gda O’Sullivan made his way to the scene with the two workers, climbed down a very steep overgrown slope on the road and in the midst of briars and other overgrowth he observed what eventually he was able to decide was a female body, which was naked apart from nylon tights or stockings on one foot. The remaining of the clothing was pulled up and obscured her face and there was a bandage of her left arm.

Counsel said it was very apparent from the condition of the body that it had been there for some time and it was subsequently identified as being Ms Sheehan.

An extensive garda murder investigation began and the jury will hear from witnesses from the garda technical bureau who collected evidence from the scene including clothing from Ms Sheehan’s body including a shoe, he said.

Pathologist Dr Robert Dermot Coakley attended at the scene and on his direction Ms Sheehan’s body was removed to the city morgue in Cork, where he conducted a postmortem. He noted various injuries to the deceased’s body including bruising to the anterior or the front of Ms Sheehan’s vagina. Unfortunately, Dr Coakley died on August 5th 1981, seven weeks after conducting the postmortem, said counsel.

Through an Act brought in 1992, Mr Grehan said the jury will hear a record of the pathologist’s findings of the examination on Ms Sheehan’s body. He said the prosecution cannot say precisely how Ms Sheehan died but what the State do say is that Ms Sheehan met her death by means of foul play. “And that much is apparent from the fruits of the examination of Dr Coakley combined with the circumstances of the findings of her naked and bruised body dumped a distance from the roadside in dense undergrowth where it just happened to be found by two forestry workers working in the area, a long way away from where she was last seen alive,” he said.

Four days later on June 16th 1981, Mr Grehan said Detective Inspector Matt Thorn who was stationed in Cork city stopped Mr Long driving an Opel Kadett car on the Curraheen Road in Cork. At the time Mr Long was 32 years of age, some 20 plus years younger than Ms Sheehan and living at Riverbank on the Curraheen Road in Bishopstown in Cork. “That is on the same side, if not particularly close to where Ms Sheehan lived and was last seen alive,” he said.

Counsel said Mr Long’s car was technically examined by members of the garda technical bureau.

The barrister further stated that Dr Coakley had also taken various standard samples from Ms Sheehan’s body including matter from her vagina, which showed the presence of sperm. He also took a sample of her blood and these samples were given to Dr Tim Creedon from the forensic science laboratory in the Phoenix Park, who confirmed the presence of semen from the swab taken from the deceased’s vagina. Dr Creedon preserved what was on the vaginal swab by placing it on a piece of glass. This was protected by another piece of glass on top, labelled, archived and placed in storage at the forensic science laboratory for many years.

In relation to this action by Dr Creedon, Mr Grehan said it turned out to be of great significance because in 2008 a serious crime review team in An Garda Síochana was set up and tasked with reviewing old unsolved cases particularly murders, what might be termed “cold cases”. and Ms Sheehan’s murder case came under its purview.

Mr Grehan said it was decided in 2008 that the preserved sample of the glass slide that Dr Creedon had put away many years earlier would be sent to a specialist UK lab, who had the services to use new methodology that was still in infancy at the time.

The court heard further evidence will be that Dr Jonathan Whitaker developed a DNA profile from semen recovered from Ms Sheehan’s vagina. Subsequently, counsel said a material was obtained by gardaí from the accused man Mr Long on November 30th 2021, which was analysed in the forensic science lab. “Results from their analysis were sent to Dr Whitaker and he will say it matched the semen recovered from Ms Sheehan’s vagina. Using the calculation tools, the possibility that it originated from someone other than Mr Long is one in 20,000 provided they are unrelated to him,” said the barrister, adding that the jury have to look at all the evidence and not just the DNA.

Ms Sheehan’s son, James Sheehan, who is now 65-years-old, told Mr Grehan that he was 23 years of age when his mother went missing.

Asked by Mr Grehan how his mother was in her last few years, the witness replied: “Like you described this morning”. When asked to elaborate on this, he said his mother was “a bit eccentric”.

The barrister asked the witness how this would show itself and Mr Sheehan said his mother “had a chip on her shoulder, the way her patient’s being treated in hospital. She would freely speak her mind”.

Asked about his mother waving at traffic and cars, Mr Shehan said she had grown up in the country and “everyone used to pick everyone up”.

Retired nurse Agnes Rice told Mr Grehan that she remembered treating Ms Sheehan for a “quite significant dog bite” to her upper arm at the casualty department of the South Infirmary Hospital at about 9.45pm on June 6, 1981.

When Ms Sheehan left, she was not with anyone else, the witness said. Ms Rice struck her as being a “vulnerable person”.

The trial continues on Friday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of eight men and four women. It is expected to last four weeks.