State pathologist says evidence matches O'Donoghue's statement
State pathologist Marie Cassidy agreed today at the conclusion of the prosecution case that her findings corroborated the account of Robert Holohan’s death given by the man who denies murdering him.
During video link evidence, Dr Cassidy agreed with this key suggestion by defence senior counsel, Blaise O’Carroll.
“Your findings corroborate the account given by Wayne O’Donoghue to An Garda Siochana,” Mr O’Carroll suggested at the Central Criminal Court in Cork.
“They do,” Dr Cassidy said from garda technical headquarters at Harcourt Square, Dublin.
Dr Jack Crane, pathologist, reported for the defence that: “There was no real evidence that Robert struggled violently against his attacker. In this case there is certainly no evidence of sexual assault, no evidence of a violent struggle between the two parties, i.e. that they were fighting.”
Dr Cassidy responded: “I agree with that statement.”
However, Dr Cassidy differed with her colleague on the significance of mouth injuries suffered by the deceased and she repeated her assertion that they were possibly caused by a blow or a hand held firmly over the mouth.
She said the trauma to the mouth was definite and could not be thrown aside. She said she did not know enough about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a condition suffered by Robert, to say if it could have contributed to the death.
Mr O’Carroll SC put it to Dr Cassidy that the back injuries she found on Robert could have occurred by being pushed forcibly against a car, and not necessarily against the ground. She agreed.
Also today there was evidence that Robert Holohan photographed a poster on the bedroom wall of Wayne O’Donoghue on his new Nokia phone, and the time logged for that picture was 7.32am on December 28, 2005, a week before he was killed.
The poster bearing the words, “Student Crossing”, showed a cartoon version of a black and amber road sign with a figure crawling across a road on all fours carrying a pint glass.
Pathologist, Jack Crane, is flying in from Belfast tomorrow as the first witness for the defence.
