A CLARE man whose partner is accused of hiring a hitman to kill him and his two sons, has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court that he found it “very, very, very hard to believe” that she was guilty of the charges.
PJ Howard told defence counsel for Sharon Collins, Paul O’Higgins SC, in cross-examination, that he did not believe the allegations. “It doesn’t make sense to me at all. It’s totally out of character and to be quite honest I find it very, very, very hard to believe.”
Ms Collins (45), Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis and Essam Eid (52), an Egyptian man with a Las Vegas address, have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to kill PJ, Robert and Niall Howard between August 1st, 2006 and September 26th, 2006. Ms Collins also denies hiring Mr Eid to shoot the three men.
Mr Eid denies demanding €100,000 from Robert Howard to cancel the contracts. He also denies breaking into the Howard family business at Westgate Business Park and stealing two computers, some computer cables, a digital clock and a poster of old Irish money and then handling the stolen items.
Mr Howard told Mr O’Higgins that Ms Collins had looked after him when he had cardiac problems in 2000. “We didn’t feel there were any serious problems between us until this particular situation arose here. Up to that we were living quite normally.” He said that Ms Collins, who had been living with him for eight years, had never shown any signs that she was with him for his money.
“In the eight years I have known Sharon, she has never asked for anything. I have often offered her things and she said no. If she is given €300 or €400 for herself, she would see if her two lads had enough. She would spend it on clothes and not save it. She is far from a greedy person.” Mr Howard said he thought the laptop on which gardaí found e-mails from Lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie to Hitmanforhire@yahoo.com had been stolen from his house after a party.
As he was leaving the court, Mr Howard stopped and kissed Ms Collins on the lips.
The jury were also read the statement of special agent Deen Abbott, an FBI agent who searched Mr Eid’s house in Las Vegas. The agent told gardaí that when they arrived at 6108 Camden Cove Street on December 4th, 2006, Mr Eid’s wife Lisa let them in. Various items were seized including a folder of documents and an address book containing various Irish phone numbers and addresses.
Una Ní Raifeartaigh BL, prosecuting, told the jury that among the e-mails found in the folder was an e-mail sent to tonyluciano2001@yahoo.com confirming the registration of Hitmanforhire.us and giving the administration password Casino. There was also a message from Lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie, an address the prosecution says was set up by Sharon Collins. Dated August 8th, 2006, the contact form gave the name S Cronin and an Irish mobile number, asking for contact to be made within 15 hours.
The text of the query read “2 male marks in Ireland, usually together. Make it look like an accident. Then possibly a third one 24 hours later. Make it look like suicide. Would appreciate a call by return.” An e-mail from Hitmanforhire to judas69@gmail.com on August 10th, 2006, offered a job. “I have a job for you if you are interested. Two males in Ireland and one in Spain. Let us know. We will try to call you.”
The jury also heard from FedEx staff at Shannon airport who told them that a parcel had been sent from an Anthony Howard to a Theresa Engels at 6108 Camden Cove Street, Las Vegas. The court has previously heard that Ms Engels is Mr Eid’s partner and lives with him and his wife Lisa at the Las Vegas address.
Michael Smith told the court that the delivery was paid for by cheque and identified the signature as Sharon Collins. He said the signature was hard to read.
The trial continues.