Mother-of-two was stabbed 35 times, court hears
The Central Criminal Court heard today that a Kilkenny mother-of-two was stabbed 35 times by an intruder, who left the blade of a knife in her scalp.
Three separate fires had been lit in the house before the killer left, one behind the couch in the living room, one beside the victim in the kitchen and one under the stairs.
Mark Costigan (aged 18) with an address in Aylesbury, Kilkenny, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 36-year-old Christine Quinn at her home on December 5, 2002.
Mr Alex Owens, SC for the prosecution told the jury that Ms Quinn lived at a house on Greenfields Road in the city with her two sons, Jason, an army private, and Ronan, a schoolboy. Both she and her partner were separated from their spouses and in the process of getting divorces.
Mr Owens, SC, told the jury that all the evidence showed the intruder intended to kill or seriously injure the deceased; the only issue to decide was whether Mark Costigan was that intruder.
The prosecution offered a number ways in which they intend to prove that this is the case, including that later that day Mark Costigan arrived at "Gamesworld", a 25-minute walk from the Quinn home. His right hand was concealed and he tendered a bloody €50 note to buy a playstation game. The prosecution alleges the accused sustained a severe cut to his right hand during the attack.
On the first day of evidence today, Army Private, Jason Quinn (aged 21) told the court he went to work as normal at Stephen's Barracks in Kilkenny.
As he returned home at about 4.45pm that evening, he smelt smoke coming down the road. He also heard his dog barking, which he described as "strange, because he was normally kept indoors".
Mr Quinn said: "He was sitting on the front doorstep, barking up at the door."
He called his pet, who ran to him and "did a lap of me". This was also unusual, he said, as the dog usually jumped up on him.
At the back of the house, Mr Quinn found smoke coming out the kitchen window and rang the fire brigade on his mobile phone. When he opened the patio door into the sitting room, he said "a big puff of smoke came out," adding that the curtains were burnt.
He said it was completely dark, but the radio was on, despite it being burnt.
He walked as far as the coffee table, where he became overcome with smoke and had to go back. He put his army beret over his mouth and began again.
This time, he noticed that the coffee-table had been knocked over and there was a "small flame lingering at the back of the couch" which was burnt at one end.
He rang his mother's partner, Paul Byrne, to tell him about the fire and to ask where his mother was. Mr Byrne said she was downtown.
Mr Quinn ran upstairs to check if his brother was in bed, but found no-one.
He said it then dawned on him that he had not checked the kitchen, and so crawled below the "thick, black smoke" inside.
"Something was blocking the door," explained Mr Quinn, who said he saw a black shape on the floor, covered in ashes.
"Ronan, Ronan, Ronan," he shouted, before noticing his mother's blonde hair.
Mr Quinn told the court that he then dragged his mother out onto the front lawn, where he noticed "she was burned, her nose was broken and she was very bloodied up".
Having finished a First Aid course that day, he checked for signs of life, but there were none. He began CPR, but said the air he was blowing into her mouth was coming straight back out through her ribs where her lung had been punctured.
He used a neighbour's phone to call an ambulance.
Mr Quinn also told the court that when the gardaí returned the house to him, he noticed that the family's "Playstation 2" was missing, along with several of its games
The victim's partner, Paul Byrne, told the court he had been going out with Christine Quinn for 18 months at the time of her death.
He stayed with her three to four days per week and with his father the rest of the time.
Christine was still in bed when he left for work that morning, and, as was the norm, he had brought her a cup of coffee.
He returned home to lunch with Christine around 1.10pm, as was also routine. It was a Thursday, so Christine would be going to the supermarket that afternoon and he would collect her on his way home from work around 5pm.
Nobody else was in the house during lunch and he told her to take €100 out of the €250 in his wallet for groceries.
Mr Byrne said as he drove back to work around 1.50pm he noticed the accused, Mark Costigan, walking towards him. Mark lived nearby with his father at the time.
They waved at each other, and he continued onto work.
The witness said he tried ringing and texting Christine a couple of times throughout the afternoon, as he often did, but thought nothing of it when he got no reply. He thought she may not hear the phone while shopping or have no credit.
He said he was getting ready to leave work when Jason rang his mobile at about 4.45pm. He said he first thought he was joking, when he told him there was a fire.
He told Jason that Christine would not be in the house, as she was shopping.
Another phonecall on the journey home established that she was there and when he arrived, Jason told him there was a possibility she was dead. While the ambulance crew tried to give the victim CPR, Mr Byrne noticed that "one of her legs was badly burnt and her tracksuit bottoms were burnt off her as well".
He visibly shook as he told the court that the sight of blood and a graze on her hand "indicated to me that all wasn't well".
Mr Byrne identified two knives shown to him in court as those "used in the kitchen for food preparation." He did not recognise a blade, with the words "Richardson of Sheffield" engraved on it.
In cross-examination, Mr Byrne admitted that his late brother, Stephen, was a good friend of Mark's father, John Joe, and that Stephen was Mark's godfather.
He confirmed that Mark had also been a friend of the victim's younger son, Ronan.
Finally, when asked about the temperment of the family dog, he said he was fine with people he knew, but could be fiery with those he did not, and may not let a stranger down the drive.
The trial continues tomorrow morning before Mr Justice Michael Peart and a jury of six men and six women.
