The prosecution counsel in the trial of a man accused of murdering two women eighteen years ago has ended his closing speech to the jury by saying that if the accused is not who carried out the two killings in March 1997 then he is a “most unfortunate person”.
Mark Nash (42), who has last addresses at Prussia Street and Clonliffe Road in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of Sylvia Shields (60) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6th and March 7th, 1997.
The trial had heard the two women were living in sheltered accommodation in a house attached to St Brendan's Psychiatric Hospital in Grangegorman at the time.
Counsel for the State, Brendan Grehan SC, concluded by telling the jury of six men and five women that if the prosecution team are wrong and the accused Mark Nash is not the person who "carried out two murders on the night in question" then Mr Nash is a "most unfortunate person".
“Unfortunate in that he happened to live around the corner on Prussia Street, he happened to have no one with him when he got home as his girlfriend was at work, that he was just unlucky that he happened to make unsolicited admissions to gardaí saying he carried out the murders and compounded this by maps he drew.”
Letter of retraction
Mr Grehan said: “Unlucky in the extreme that in his letter of retraction all he did was introduce new material that was not contained in his statement at all and which could only have been known to someone involved in this crime, that mutilation had taken place and five knives had been used.
“Unlucky that he just happens to own a pair of caterpillar boots, which match the prints found at the scene and unlucky that he was wearing a black velvet jacket on the night and extremely unlucky that the DNA of both victims [was] found on the jacket.
“Unlucky in the extreme that this was found on the right hand sleeve as Mark Nash is a right handed person. All of these factors are one that suggests that Mark Nash is the unluckiest and most unfortunate and all these factors come together in the case against him.”
Mr Grehan then told the jury they have to be satisfied that the combination of these factors are not a “series of inconceivable coincidences” and in the prosecutions’ case there is a “compelling, coercive and conclusive case that he did murder the two women”.
Hugh Hartnett SC for the accused began his closing speech to the jury before lunch, and told the court he intended to deal with the facts in this case.
“I don’t intend to talk about good luck or bad luck but the scientific facts in this case,” Mr Hartnett said.