A man whose mother’s dismembered remains were found scattered in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains has told a jury his sister did not want to report their mother as a missing person.
Richard O’Connor told the Central Criminal Court today that his mother was a “straight shooter” saying: “If you were in the wrong, she would tell you were in the wrong and if you needed a kick in the arse, she’d give you one”.
Mr O’Connor also told the jury that he was worried about Patricia O’Connor and queried things with murder accused Kieran Greene in the aftermath of his mother going missing. However, he said there was “not a budge out of him”.
The witness also agreed that he had described Mr Greene as “a fool and a moron”, and said his sister “wore the trousers” in their relationship.
The witness also identified his niece Stephanie O’Connor in CCTV footage as the person closing the back door of the house at Mountainview Park on the night his mother is alleged to have been murdered.
Mr O’Connor, the only son of Mrs O’Connor, gave evidence on Friday in the trial of father-of-three Mr Greene (34), who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Patricia O’Connor (61) at her home in Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on May 29th, 2017.
The deceased’s daughter Louise O’Connor (41) and granddaughter Stephanie O’Connor (22), both of Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, Dublin 14, and Louise O’Connor’s ex-partner Keith Johnston (43), of Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin 24 are all charged with impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene, knowing or believing him to have committed an arrestable offence, to wit the murder of Mrs O’Connor.
Evidence has been given that the body of Mrs O’Connor was dismembered into 15 separate parts that were found at nine different locations over a 30km range in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between June 10th and June 14th, 2017.
In court on Friday, Richard O’Connor told prosecuting counsel, Roisin Lacey SC, that his father Augustine, his mother Patricia, his sister Louise and her five children as well as Louise’s partner Mr Greene were living in Mountainview in June 2017. Mr O’Connor said he had not lived in Mountainview for 12 years or longer.
‘Fair bit of friction’
He told the court there was a “fair bit of friction” in Mountainview and it stemmed from Louise and her family living in the home and “not keeping up with the usual upkeep of the house”.
He testified his mother had retired from her job as a cleaner in Beaumont Hospital in 2016. Mr O’Connor said his birthday was on May 30th but no one had contacted him to wish him a happy birthday.
He said he got in contact with Louise on May 31st to find out if everything was alright, as that was the only way of getting in touch with his mother.
He said his sister had taken her mother’s phone and never replaced it. Louise informed him on this phone call that their mother had left with a suitcase and ran off somewhere after an argument over car insurance, he said, adding that Mr Greene had been driving his mother’s car and had a crash or a bump of some sort.
“Louise said my mother stormed out of the house in anger, she said she didn’t see her but had heard her shouting abuse and saying ‘I’ll be back when that old fella pops his clogs’,” he said, adding that this was a reference to his father.
Describing his mother, Mr O’Connor called her a “straight shooter” saying: “If you were in the wrong, she would tell you were in the wrong and if you needed a kick in the arse, she’d give you one”.
Louise told him that she had been in the bathroom on the evening of May 29th and went to have a look to see where her mother was, he said, adding that he was worried when he found out his mother was missing.
Mr O’Connor said he had an appointment in Tallaght Hospital on June 1st, 2017 and went to Mountainview afterwards and Louise, his father and Mr Greene were there. He agreed with his father to report his mother missing but said Louise did not want them reporting anything.
Mr Greene was in the house at the time but did not say a thing, he remarked.
The court has previously heard that Augustine ‘Gus’ O’Connor and Richard O’Connor made a missing person report to gardai at Rathfarnham Garda Station concerning Mrs O’Connor on June 1st, 2017.
Mr O’Connor said he walked to Tesco in Nutgrove with Mr Greene on June 11th and said he [Richard O’Connor] was giving out that he had not had contact with his mother.
Amicable relationship
“I was worried about my ma and querying things but there was not a budge out of him,” he said, adding that he had an amicable relationship with him.
Mr O’Connor said he voluntarily went to Bray Garda station on September 3rd, 2017, where he was interviewed by gardaí and invited to comment about who he recognised in CCTV.
The jury was then shown CCTV footage from May 29th, which had been shown to Mr O’Connor in the Garda station. He identified his niece Stephanie O’Connor as the person going into the rear of the house and closing the back door behind her just after 10pm on the night Mrs O’Connor was allegedly killed.
It is the prosecution’s case that at no point in time in CCTV footage can Stephanie O’Connor be seen as herself leaving Mountainview Park on the night of May 29th and that, in order to cover up the alleged murder, she dressed up as her grandmother as “a ruse” to pretend that Mrs O’Connor had stormed out of the house.
In cross-examination, Mr O’Connor told Conor Devally SC, for Mr Greene, that the house was “packed”. He said his mother had left home when he was 10 years old but he had maintained a relationship with her. The witness agreed his mother had moved back into the house in later years.
His father and mother had separate rooms after she returned to the house, which he agreed enhanced the overcrowding in the house.
He further agreed he had described Mr Greene to gardaí as “a fool’ and “a moron”. He was someone who listened more than actually contributed, he said.
When asked if Louise was “sharper” than Mr Greene, he said his sister Louise was “cute enough”.
He agreed with Mr Devally that she “wore the trousers” in her relationship with Mr Greene. He commented that he thought the dynamic between Louise and Mr Greene was “a very odd situation”.
The trial has heard that while in custody, Mr Greene changed his account of killing and dismembering his partner’s mother, six months after he was charged with her murder.
Evidence has been given that Mr Greene walked into Rathfarnham Garda station on June 12th, 2017 and told a detective that he had done “something terrible” and dismembered the body of Mrs O’Connor on his own.
However, the accused man told gardaí on December 9th he had taken “the rap” and felt he was being set up, as his girlfriend Louise O’Connor subsequently started going back out with her ex-boyfriend Keith Johnston.
Louise O’Connor has pleaded not guilty to agreeing to or acquiescing in her daughter Stephanie O’Connor disguising herself as Patricia O’Connor at Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on May 29th, 2017 in order to conceal the fact that she was dead.
Stephanie O’Connor has pleaded not guilty to disguising herself as Mrs O’Connor in order to conceal the fact that she was already dead.
Mr Johnston has pleaded not guilty to assisting Mr Greene in the purchase of various implements at Woodie’s, Mr Price, B&Q and Shoe Zone, Tallaght, on June 9th, 2017, which were to be used in the concealment of the remains of Mrs O’Connor.
Mr Johnston also denies engaging in the refurbishment of a bathroom at Mountainview Park between May 31st, 2017 and June 9th, 2017, in order to destroy or conceal any evidence relating to the murder of Mrs O’Connor.
The trial continues.