Murder trial hears how grandmother was shot dead
Two gunmen burst into a west Dublin house smashing windows and kicking through a door before shooting dead a grandmother in her bedroom, a court was told today.
Joan Casey, 65, a mother of five, was shot dead in her Tallaght home in the early hours of April 3, 2004 – the 20th anniversary of the death of one of her sons.
Conor Grogan, 26, of Avonbeg Park, Tallaght, and Timothy Rattigan, also 26, of St Dominick’s Terrace, went on trial charged with the pensioner’s murder today at Dublin Central Criminal Court.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The court was told Mrs Casey was shot in the chest after a shotgun was fired through her bedroom door.
She was awakened at around 6.30am on the Saturday by the sound of smashing glass.
The court was told two men armed with a shotgun had burst into the house, rushed upstairs and attempted to kick in the bedroom door.
Prosecution counsel told the court that, while only one man fired the gun, the pair entered the house with the intention of shooting someone.
“It is not a matter as far as you are concerned and as far as the charges for murder are concerned which of the two men fired the shot,” Edward Comyn SC told jurors.
He said two shots were fired through the door, one of which struck a wall, the other hitting Mrs Casey in the chest.
“It is the prosecution’s case that both of these men who entered the house went there with the intention of shooting or fatally shooting Mrs Casey or perhaps someone else,” Mr Comyn said.
He told the court that witnesses would testify seeing the killers stroll from the house in Avonbegg Park after the shooting.
“The two men left the house and were seen walking slowly and casually away, both of them on the public road and one carrying a shotgun,” he said.
The court heard that it was unclear as to why the mother of five would be targeted by the killers.
Mr Comyn told the court that evidence may be produced that the wrong person was shot dead.
“But by way of the violent entry to this house and in the way the shooting was carried out, somebody was being targeted, this wasn’t a burglary, this wasn’t a quick snatch of goods,” he said.
The court was told that the prosecution could link the two men to the killing through forensic evidence.
Glass fragments from windows smashed at Mrs Casey’s home were found on the barrel of a shotgun recovered from a house on Avonbeg Gardens in Tallaght.
Mr Comyn told the court that a blue holdall bag containing a shotgun, two spent cartridges and three live cartridges was found in the garden of the house.
Forensic experts found scrapes on the gun barrel which contained tiny particles of glass.
Gardaí found fingerprints matching those of Timothy Rattigan on the shotgun.
The court was also told shotgun pellets found at the scene of the murder were consistent with having come from the two spent cartridges.
Footprints were also recovered at the crime scene and the prosecution alleged they could be traced to footwear owned by the two men.
