The trial of a man accused of killing his wife 10 years ago has heard that the woman died as a result of being strangled.
John Diver, Kilnamanagh Road, Walkinstown, Dublin, denies murdering his wife, Geraldine (42), at Robinhood Road, Clondalkin, on December 2nd, 1996.
Ms Diver was found in the front seat of her car outside a builder's providers with a tie around her neck at about 10.40pm on December 2nd.
At the Central Criminal Court yesterday, a statement from former State pathologist Prof John Harbison, outlining the nature of Ms Diver's injuries, was read to the court by prosecution counsel Shane Murphy SC.
Prof Harbison, who has been unable to give evidence in person for several months, carried out an examination of Ms Diver on December 3rd, 1996.
In his conclusion, Prof Harbison said that Ms Diver's death was as a result "of asphyxia due to strangulation by ligature". He also said that the possibility Ms Diver died as a result of manual strangulation could not be ruled out. The tie found around Ms Diver's neck was tied in a "tight granny knot", about nine inches in size.
In response to Mr Murphy, Michael Stone, a truck driver, said he noticed a woman sitting in a car outside Buckley's gate shortly before 10pm that night.
This in itself was unusual, as he "had never seen a car there before". As he drove past, the lights of his vehicle lit up the interior of the car. Mr Stone said the woman was not moving, and her head was slumped to one side. "Her arms were by her side, and she was perfectly still."
The woman's top was pulled up and her breasts were exposed.
"Somebody in the rear of the car was holding her breasts," he said, adding that the hands looked like those of a man. The hands "were moving up and down" but he could not see who was in the back of the car.
He knew the area well, as the base where he took a break from driving was just a short distance away from where he saw Ms Diver's car.
He told defence counsel Ann-Marie Lawlor that he initially presumed that it "was a couple having sex". What was most strange about this incident, he said, was that "the woman did not move to cover herself" as he drove past.
Another truck driver, Alan Stewart, who drove past Buckley's some minutes earlier, told prosecuting counsel Edward Comyn SC that he saw a middle-aged woman who he now knew to be Ms Diver at the wheel of a red car. It was not usual for a car to be parked there, and the witness said that he and the woman exchanged a brief glance. She did not appear worried, and he did not see anyone else in the car.