Fiancé of man killed in bed identifies accused
The fiancé of a man who was shot to death while he slept in bed beside her pointed at the accused in the Central Criminal Court today and identified him as the assailant.
Nicole Lennon (aged 21), the fiancé of Darren McGrath (aged 33) and mother of his child, became visibly upset as she told the court she had awoken to find a gunman in her bedroom and witnessed him fatally shot Mr McGrath as he slept beside her
Trevor McCabe (aged 35), Mountpleasant, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Darren McGrath (aged 33) in Belturbet, Co Cavan on May 20, 2008.
When asked by Mr Anthony Sammon SC, prosecuting, if the man who had shot Darren McGrath was in the court room Ms Lennnon nodded and pointed at Trevor McCabe.
She said: "It was him. I don’t want to look at him but it was him."
Ms Lennon had lived with Mr McGrath and their then 18-month-old daughter at their home in Belturbet, Co Cavan for two years prior to the killing.
On the night of the shooting Ms Lennon had put her daughter to bed before retiring to the master bedroom.
Darren McGrath joined her at around 10:30pm and they watched a DVD before going to sleep.
Adam McGrath, brother of the deceased, and his two friends were also staying in the house on the night of the killing.
Ms Lennon said in the early hours of the next morning she was awoken by "a presence in the room".
She said: "There was somebody in the room standing over me. I recognised it was Trevor McCabe."
His face was partially concealed by a bike mask and he was carrying a two barrel shotgun.
Ms Lennon told the court after the first shot was fired the man leaned over her to get closer to Mr McGrath’s head before firing the second shot.
She said: "After the first shot Darren’s arm went up as if he was still alive."
"He leaned over me to get closer to Darren’s head to make sure he was dead."
The court heard the assailant was wearing a mask covering his face from the nose down but his eyes and head were clearly visible.
After the assailant had left Ms Lennon jumped out of the bed screaming: “He is dead. Trevor McCabe is after killing him.”
The court heard Ms Lennon had known Trevor McCabe for about two years prior to the alleged murder.
Mr McCabe had visited Ms Lennon in hospital after the birth of her daughter and had attended the child’s christening.
One month prior to the shooting, Mr McCabe and his girlfriend had visited the deceased man at his home.
Ms Lennon told prosecuting counsel she was ‘familiar’ with Trevor McCabe.
"He wasn’t my friend he was Darren’s friend," she said.
During cross-examination, Ms Lennon told Peter Finlay SC, defending, she could not remember the exact colour of the trousers the assailant was wearing.
She said: “I wasn’t concentrating on clothes - my fiancé was getting shot dead.”
Ms Lennon told Mr Finlay SC, she did not know of any enemies the deceased may have had nor did she know why Trevor McCabe would have shot him.
When Mr Finlay SC, defending, put it to her that she had told gardai in statements she had spoken about Trevor McCabe with the deceased before they went to sleep that night Ms Lennon replied: “I think so.”
Andrea Murphy, who lived next door to Mr McGrath and Ms Lennon, told the court she heard a loud bang in the early hours of May 20, 2008.
“I heard a really loud bang and I jumped out of bed to check on my youngest daughter to see if she had fallen out of her cot,” she said.
When she returned to her room she heard a second bang and “hysterical screaming” coming from next door.
Ms Murphy ran next door and saw Nicole Lennon standing in the landing with the deceased’s brother Adam McGrath.
She said: “Nicole kept screaming: ’Darren’s shot. Darren’s shot. Trevor shot him’.”
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of eight women and four men.
