A Dublin woman accused of murdering her husband was "out of it" after the incident, a murder trial jury heard yesterday.
Ms Dolores O'Neill (50) has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Mr Declan O'Neill (46) on or about July 22nd, 2002. When arraigned she pleaded guilty to his manslaughter at their home at Coolamber Park, Knocklyon, Dublin, but the plea was not accepted by the State.
On the opening day of the trial, Ms Ann Hughes said that when she opened the door to her sister at around 1 a.m., "Dolores sort of fell in the door". Ms Hughes said she noticed a lot of bruising on her sister's face. The accused asked her sister to look after her boys while she spoke to her husband John.
Later that morning, two gardaí went to the Hughes's home in Ashford, Co Wicklow, where they confirmed Mr O'Neill was dead. Ms Hughes said Ms O'Neill was incoherent most of the time, was "rocking back and forth" on the bed, and eventually collapsed after she told gardaí what had happened.
Mr John Hughes told the court his wife's sister, Ms O'Neill, was "out of it, totally devastated and in a horrific state" when she arrived at his door on the night in question. The accused had driven herself and her two sons 25 miles from her family home to theirs.
Mr Hughes told Mr Roger Sweetman SC, for the prosecution, that it took him about five minutes to calm the accused. She said she had "done a terrible thing (to) the father of her sons" and that she must have been mad.
He said she spoke disjointedly about a trip to Cork and a row. She told him her husband had caught her by the throat and threatened to give her another black eye. She said she hit him and he fell back on the bed and said he would leave the following morning.
Ms O'Neill told her brother-in-law that this was when she flipped and hit her husband with a hammer. Mr Hughes said he told Ms O'Neill there were things he had to do, and said she understood this meant he had to call the emergency services.
Mr Justice Carney told the jury of six men and six women that despite the word "mad" being mentioned in testimony, there was no issue of insanity in the case. The trial continues today.