Derry man guilty of murdering pregnant mother-of-four

Derry man Stephen Cahoon has for a second time been found guilty of murdering pregnant mother-of-four Jean Teresa Quigley after three trials over a period of six years.

Cahoon (43), with a last address at Harvey Street in Derry, admitted strangling his ex-girlfriend Ms Quigley (30), who was 10 weeks pregnant with his child at the time, but had denied it was murder.

The jury heard Ms Quigley’s naked and bruised body was discovered at her home by her mother, Emma McBride.

On Thursday, a Central Criminal Court jury found Cahoon guilty by unanimous verdict of murdering Ms Quigley at Cornshell fields in Derry on July 26th, 2008. They had deliberated for three hours and 43 minutes.

Direct evidence

Cahoon, who gave direct evidence at the trial, had told the jury he “handcuffed” one of Ms Quigley’s hands to her bed and “taped” her other hand to the other side of the headboard before having sex.

Afterwards Cahoon said he saw “red” when Ms Quigley told him the baby was not his and so he “grabbed and pushed” her and put his “hand on her throat”.

However, prosecution counsel Patrick Marrinan SC told the jury there was evidence of “violence from beginning to end” at the scene.

He said there was evidence Ms Quigley’s door had been “broken in” and there were defensive injuries and bruising to Ms Quigley’s arms, scalp and head, which was “utterly inconsistent” with the version of events given by Cahoon.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy thanked the jury for their service, saying they struck her "as a very engaged and conscientious jury".

Life imprisonment

Ms Justice Murphy sentenced Cahoon to life imprisonment and backdated it to the date of his arrest on August 5th, 2008.

Mr Marrinan said Cahoon had 12 convictions for assault causing harm related to a previous partner between 1997 and 1998, as well as for threatening to kill her. He also had other convictions for assault.

This was Cahoon’s third trial for murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend and he has served close to 10 years in prison.

In his first Central Criminal Court trial, a jury failed to reach a verdict.

Then on April 30th, 2012, a jury unanimously found him guilty of murder at the Central Criminal Court and he was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mr Justice Barry White. However in March of this year, the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction due to an error in the judge's instructions to the jury, ordered a retrial and remanded Cahoon in custody.

The trials made legal history. Cahoon was charged under the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act of 1976 and opted for trial in the Republic. He became the first person to be tried for a murder in the Republic which had been committed in Northern Ireland.

Victim impact statement

Prosecution counsel Patricia McLaughlin BL read a victim impact statement to the court on behalf of Ms Quigley’s family. The court heard she was the youngest of five children and she grew up “protected and loved” by her brothers and sister.

The court heard when she was 18 years of age, her first son Dylan was born with a number of medical conditions that threatened his life.

The difficulties Ms Quigley endured at this time “brought the whole family closer together than ever”.

The court heard that throughout his life and even now, Dylan (19) needs ongoing hospital appointments and treatment in Belfast.

“He lives with his granny who loves him and sees he has all he needs, but this is no replacement for a loving mother,” read the barrister.

The court also heard Ms Quigley went on to have two more boys as well as a little girl, “her little princess”, the girl “she had always longed for”.

Now that Ms Quigley is no longer with them, the children’s lives “have been turned upside down”.