Accused learned of shooting on news, court hears
One of two men accused of murdering a 65-year-old woman said in a statement to gardaí he “saw that a woman had been shot” on the Six o’clock news that night, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
Conor Grogan, aged 26, of Avonbeg Park, Tallaght, and Timothy Rattigan, aged 26, of St Dominick’s Terrace, Tallaght, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mrs Joan Casey, aged 65, at Avonbeg Park on April 3, 2004.
Detective Garda Michael Cuffe read to the jury a statement the accused, Grogan, gave at his house on the day of the killing.
Grogan told gardaí he lived at the address with his partner, Pauline, and their two kids. “Last night I was drinking at Ahern’s Pub, we go there every few Fridays,” he said.
The accused left the pub at 12.30am and went home “for a minute or two” and then to Tina Rattigan’s house, who lives across the road. Tina is a sister of Grogan’s co-accused.
Grogan had been drinking vodkas and some beers that night, the court heard.
“I stayed there all night, we were drinking and watching TV. I got a call from Pauline to see where I was and she said there were gardaí all over the place,” Grogan said in the statement.
It was “well bright” at this stage, he said.
“I could see gardaí going in and out of Avonbeg Park, I did not know whose house it was,” Grogan said.
The accused went to bed early that morning and got up around noon and “started vomiting”. His partner Pauline called a doctor, who gave Grogan a few tablets later.
Grogan said he learned of the killing watching television. “I watched the six o’clock news and saw that a woman had been shot at Avonbeg Park, I didn’t know who she was,” he said.
Grogan told gardaí he did know Mrs Casey’s son, Gerard, who was married to Elizabeth Rattigan, a sister of his co-accused. The couple have four kids.
Det. Garda Cuffe confirmed that the statement was read over to the accused and signed by him.
The court also heard from State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, who attended the scene of the fatal shooting.
“The bedroom door had two holes in it around chest level. On the inside back of the door there was a dressing gown hanging over the holes, which was damaged,” she said.
At Tallaght Hospital, Dr Cassidy performed a post-mortem on Mrs Casey’s body.
“The post-mortem showed that this woman had died from a single shotgun injury to the chest,” she said. The shotgun wound left a very large hole in both the lung and the heart.
The shooting caused the “instant collapse” of Mrs Casey and “almost immediate death”, the court heard.
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of six men and six women.
