The sight of the badly charred remains of three elderly sisters will be forever transfixed in the minds of those who witnessed the scene, a coroner told Galway Circuit Criminal Court yesterday. The sisters died in a house fire on Inishbofin Island two years ago.
Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of Mr Alan Murphy, of Belfast, with an address at Newcastle, Co Down. He is charged with the manslaughter of Ms Eileen Coyne (81), of Middle Quarter, Inishbofin, and her sisters, Ms Bridget McFadden (80) and Ms Margaret Con can non (72), on July 6th, 1999.
Mr Murphy denies the charges and also denies setting fire to Ms Coyne's house, thereby endangering the lives of the three women. Dr MacLoughlin, a general practitioner in Clifden, said yesterday he arrived by ferry on Inishbofin at 5.30 a.m. on the morning following the fire. He went to the scene and found people in a state of shock. He stood on an embankment from where he could see the charred bodies of two people inside a room at the rear of the house.
He went into the house and immediately identified the bodies of two people but had difficulty finding the third body. "I knew the third person [Eileen Coyne] slept in an upstairs bedroom over the living-room area. I can only presume that the floor and stairs collapsed and she fell into the epicentre of the fire and was covered initially by debris and fire," he said.
Dr MacLoughlin told the jury it appeared the two women whose bodies were found in a small utility room at the rear of the house had tried to escape. "Eileen's remains were very badly destroyed. It is transfixed in my consciousness what I saw that day. The human destruction that was witnessed, not only by me, but by everyone else that day will be transfixed in our minds for the rest of our lives," the doctor said.
The court had heard earlier from Mr Malise Gibney, a regular visitor to the island, that he was at the pier in the early morning while the fire was blazing. Mr Murphy was waist-deep in the water, whingeing and pleading. A local man, Mr Tom Burke, threw a lifebuoy to him and guided him out of the water.
Mr Murphy told them people were trying to lynch or kill him. He complained of the cold and said he wanted to go to a hostel on the island. Mr Gibney said the accused spoke a lot. Some of the time he was coherent but at other times he made no sense. Mr Gibney said he was acting strangely and he was prompted to ask him if he was on medication or taking drugs. Mr Gibney asked the accused if he has anything to do with the fire in the house. Mr Murphy denied it. "He said he didn't burn those people in the house and I thought it odd he knew there were people there," Mr Gibney said.
The trial continues today.