Murder victim already dead when he was decapitated and arms amputated, trial hears

A 64-year-old father of three was already dead after he was struck on the head and strangled, before his body was dismembered and his head and arms removed in the garden of a derelict house in Cork, a murder trial has heard.

State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers said that she found, from her post-mortem examination of Frankie Dunne, that he was dead before he was decapitated at the neck, and his arms were amputated at the shoulders. Death was due to neck compression and blunt force trauma to the head.

She said she was able to establish that the decapitation and amputation occurred after death as there was no evidence that blood had been flowing through Mr Dunne’s body at the time that the incisions were made to decapitate him and amputate his arms.

Dr Okkers said that Mr Dunne died from neck compression leading to asphyxia associated with blunt force trauma to the head, but it was not possible to say whether Mr Dunne suffered the neck compression or the blunt force trauma first as both injuries were of similar age.

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However, the defensive wounds that she found at post-mortem on the back of Mr Dunne’s right hand suggested that he was struck on the head with a blunt instrument first and he then suffered the neck compression with both injuries contributing to his death, said Dr Okkers.

The blunt force trauma to the head resulted in a fracture to Mr Dunne’s skull, and she found shards of glass embedded in his skull and in the hood of his coat which were consistent with him having been struck over the head with a bottle, she said.

Dr Okkers was giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial of chef, Ionut Cosmin Nicolescu (30) from Branista Village, Damovita County, Romania, who denies the murder of Mr Dunne at Castle Greine House on Boreenamanna Road, Cork between December 27th and 28th, 2019.

Dr Okkers told the jury of four men and eight women trying the case at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork that she conducted the post-mortem on Mr Dunne’s body at the morgue at Cork University Hospital on Sunday, December 29th.

She said that, at the time of post-mortem, Mr Dunne had not been identified but she was told he was a homeless man with a history of alcohol abuse and his remains had been found dismembered in the grounds of a derelict house on Boreenamanna Road on December 28th by a man looking for his cat.

Asked by prosecution counsel, Ray Boland SC if she could say when exactly Mr Dunne had been killed, Dr Okkers said all she could say with certainty regarding the time of death was that it had happened within 36 hours of the post-mortem examination.

She said that Mr Dunne was found at post-mortem to have six times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood and so was extremely intoxicated and he may not have been able to defend himself - although intoxication did not contribute to Mr Dunne’s death.

Cross-examined by defence counsel, Philipp Rahn SC for Mr Nicolescu, Dr Okkers agreed that Mr Dunne had suffered a large number of injuries. There were some 16 specific injuries to the neck and head, including a fracture to his skull.

He also suffered three injuries to the chest and abdomen, including some broken ribs as well as four injuries to his back. There were injuries to both his right and left upper arms and four injuries to his right leg and two injuries to his left leg, she said.

Asked by Mr Rahn if such injuries were likely to have been inflicted by more than one person, Dr Okkers said it was impossible to say exactly how many people were involved in the assault on Mr Dunne, but she agreed that it was a very violent assault.

The jury also heard evidence from a number of employees and the owner of the Silver Key pub and restaurant where the accused, Mr Nicolescu, had worked as a chef for over three years and where he attended for work on both December 28th and December 29th, 2019.

Bar manager, Ross Campion told the court that he was out the back of the bar sitting at a table after they had closed up for the night on December 29th when Mr Nicolescu, who was known as ‘Johnny’ to his fellow staff members, emerged from the bar and started taking clothing out a rucksack.

“He said to us ‘If anybody asks for me, don’t tell them anything – it doesn’t matter, I will be gone tomorrow,” said Mr Campion, who confirmed that Mr Nicolescu failed to show up for work the next morning which was unlike him.

The case continues.