A 37-year-old man has gone on trial accused of murdering a woman he had been going out with for three months.
Darren Murphy of Dan Desmond Village, Passage West, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Olivia Dunlea (36) at Pembroke Crescent, Passage West, Co Cork, on February 17th, 2013.
When asked how he was to plead to the charge Mr Murphy said “not guilty, guilty of manslaughter”. Mr Murphy pleaded guilty to a second charge of arson on the deceased woman’s home.
In the Central Criminal Court yesterday, prosecuting counsel Thomas Creed told the jury, in his opening statement, that Ms Dunlea’s body was found in an upstairs bedroom following a fire in her house.
She was divorced and had three young children aged between 9 and 12, he said.
Mr Murphy admitted that he “snapped” and grabbed a nearby knife. He lit a quilt beside the bed and a roll of tissue paper on top of the kitchen table downstairs before leaving the house, counsel said.
Mr Creed told the jury: “Mr Murphy has pleaded guilty to the killing of her and you will have to decide whether that killing was murder.”
For about three months Ms Dunlea and Mr Murphy were an item, counsel said. At weekends, Mr Murphy would stay over when the children were with Olivia’s sister or mother, counsel said.
On Saturday, February 16th, they went to the Rochestown Inn and, according to three people they met there, Mr Murphy and Ms Dunlea were in good spirits when they left. At about midnight they were driven by taxi to Pembroke Crescent where Ms Dunlea lived. The cab driver was of the view, counsel said, that both of them were drunk but not falling around the place and he didn’t note anything unusual.
At about 1am a neighbour of Ms Dunlea saw the fire and rang the fire brigade.
Another neighbour rang Mr Murphy who said he was at home. His reaction to hearing that Olivia’s house was on fire was, “Oh Jesus, oh Jesus,” counsel said.
When asked where Ms Dunlea was, Mr Murphy said he had left her at the door, looking for her keys, and that he had driven home in his car.
He told witnesses at the scene that they were having a fight about two gentlemen known as Fás and Frick. One witness was aware that two to three years previously Olivia had been in a relationship with Frick, Mr Creed said.
Mr Murphy drove to Ms Dunlea’s house, left his car in the middle of the road with the lights on, and ran to the door where he was held back by firemen, the court heard. He tried to phone Ms Dunlea and was crying.
A fireman was inside the house checking for hotspots when he found the outline of a body in a bedroom, counsel said. There was a smaller fire on the kitchen table which appeared to be separate. Gardaí preserved the area as a crime scene.
Mr Murphy made a voluntary statement to gardaí and handed two sets of clothes to them which he claimed to have been wearing on the night. However, following an examination of CCTV footage taken from the Rochestown Inn, gardaí realised those clothes were not what he wore that night.
When he was confronted about the discrepancy in clothing Mr Murphy admitted he had made a mistake. Counsel said the accused began “sobbing” and stated, “I just snapped.”
At 10.30pm on February 17th, 2013, Mr Murphy was arrested on suspicion of murder. He was cautioned and kept in Togher Garda station.
Counsel told the jury that State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy “will tell you that, despite the extent of fire trauma, there were six stab wounds on Ms Dunlea’s body”.
Prof Cassidy was of the view that the extent of bleeding was relatively minor, counsel said. Ms Dunlea was alive when the fire started, she had inhaled toxic fumes and the body position suggested she did not attempt to escape the fire.
Prof Cassidy postulated, counsel said, that Ms Dunlea may have been incapacitated when the fire started and the wounds could have caused spinal shock, a form of instant paralysis. The cause of death was a stab wound to the neck and inhalation of toxic fumes, counsel said.
The case continues before a jury of seven men and five women with Mr Justice Paul Carney presiding.