Jury deliberations are underway in the trial of a man charged with the murder of his partner in Waterford city last year.
Marcus O’Neill (35) has been on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Waterford since Thursday 9 July, before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs. He denies the murder of 47-year-old Tramore woman Gillian Curran at his home, 15 O’Brien Street, on 25 January 2025 after she was found unresponsive there shortly after 10.00am that morning.
Throughout the trial, the jury have heard evidence from a number of Gardaí who attended the scene, paramedics, neighbours of the accused who heard ‘aggressive shouting’ the previous night into the early hours of the morning, and colleagues of Ms Curran who noticed her with frequent injuries across a number of months prior to her death.
Several expert witnesses also took the stand, including State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers, Sandra McGrath of Forensic Science Ireland, and Detective Garda Janette O’Neill, who specialises in blood pattern analysis.
Evidence from Ms Curran’s former colleagues
Ms Curran worked in Brill Family Resource Centre, Ballybeg, and a number of her former colleagues gave evidence during the first week of the trial, describing injuries that they noticed to her.
One woman worked with the deceased for around a year and was “very friendly” with her. She said: “she [Ms Curran] had bruises and cuts nearly weekly. After a couple of times I realised she wasn’t falling over.”
The woman described how Ms Curran came into work with black eyes, cuts to her forehead, and at one point, a broken toe, which she said she sustained from a cyclist rolling over her foot.
She went on to detail one occasion where she met Ms Curran outside of work in Supervalu, the Hypercentre on New Year’s Eve 2024, where she observed her with a bruise on her face.
“I begged her to go to Caredoc, but she refused. I don’t know if she got treatment.,” the woman said. Ms Curran had told her then that she was knocked down by a car.
Ms Lacey asked why the woman included in her statement that Mr O’Neill was also present in the supermarket, but did not initially indicate this when giving evidence. She said that Mr O’Neill came over when they were talking, and when the woman mentioned getting treatment in Caredoc, he said “I keep telling her to go.”
The woman additionally told the jury about being in the work canteen one day with Ms Curran. As they were talking, the deceased’s sleeve rolled up, and the woman noticed she had a bruise “almost the length of her arm.”
When she asked her about it, Ms Curran told her that she “bruises easily.”
Concluding her evidence, the woman told the court that Ms Curran ” spoke ‘highly’ of the accused, saying things like he is an “amazing artist” and “could be a millionaire.”
“She said she didn’t know what she’d do without him.”
Another female colleague who worked in the same office as Ms Curran said they used to listen to music together in the mornings before work, and that they would talk about ‘everyday’ things. The woman agreed that there was an ‘openness’ between them, but not with all things – you had to ‘drag’ some things from her or ‘probe’ her for information, she told the court.
The woman said the first time she noticed an injury to Ms Curran, she believed it was ‘plausible.’ “She came in with a mark on her forehead, she said she banged it on a cupboard door,” she told the court.
In her evidence, the woman described receiving a text from the deceased in October 2024 to say she wouldn’t be able to come to work, as she hit her head and was receiving treatment at University Hospital Waterford. Ms Curran sent her a selfie with a bandage on her forehead, with Mr O’Neill also visible in the picture.
The woman added that Ms Curran came back to work a few days afterwards, with stitches on her forehead. “I said to her, you gave yourself some bang. She said that’s me, I’m clumsy.”
Ms Lacey asked the woman about further texts that were sent at the time, and she agreed that Ms Curran had also written: “they told Marcus to guard me in case of a concussion.”
After the accused was brought to Waterford Garda Station on 25 January to give an account of what had occurred, Detective Garda Liam Harty was one of the first at the station to meet him.
Det Garda Harty told the court he noticed that Mr O’Neill’s right hand appeared to be swollen, with the skin looking ‘stretched.’ He asked for his account and said the accused was ‘emotional’, but not crying.
In his account, Mr O’Neill said he and Ms Curran had been in a relationship for 18 months. He described the deceased as a ‘heavy drinker’ who falls ‘often’, adding that she had ‘problems with eating.’
On the night of Friday 24 January, he said they started drinking in the evening, with Ms Curran becoming drunk ‘earlier’ than him. The accused additionally told Det Garda Harty that they were drinking straight vodka.
Mr O’Neill was formally arrested on suspicion of assault causing harm at 12.12pm that day by Detective Sergeant Brian O’Callaghan.
‘A lot’ of airborne blood stains found in house
Detective Garda Janette O’Neill, a member of the Garda National Technical Bureau who is trained in blood pattern analysis, gave evidence to the court across three days of the trial.
Det Garda O’Neill arrived at 15 O’Brien Street during the evening of 25 January, alongside other members. She noticed blood on Ms Curran’s face and hands, and took samples from her remains to be tested. The Detective returned on Monday 27 January to continue a technical examination of different parts of the property.
Det Garda O’Neill explained to the jury that two different types of blood patterns were found in her examination. Both airborne, which entails droplets of blood travelling through the air, and transfer stains, which occur after blood is moved along a surface, were discovered.
She stated that blood was found on four different locations on the bannister of the stairs, including at the base and the top. Det Garda O’Neill said they were all noted to be transfer stains, and separate blood staining with hair marks was found low down on a corresponding wall above the stairs.
Det Garda O’Neill noticed ‘a lot’ of airborne blood stains throughout the property in her examination, with most appearing to be ‘recent.’ In her evidence, she said that she observed droplets that appeared to be diluted blood with water on a floor tile between the sitting room and the kitchen. The Detective said that the droplets appeared faded, as if “someone washed their hands and it dropped before they were dry.”
Det Garda O’Neill additionally explained that she noticed blood staining on the duvet, a pillowcase, and near a window in the bedroom upstairs. The jury were shown each of these areas in photos that were taken at the scene. She added that a ‘significant’ amount of blood was observed above a skirting board near the doorframe of the bedroom.
The Detective summarised that from her examination, she concluded that a ‘violent’ assault took place in the house in and around the time of 24/25 January. She said “it looked as if someone cut their head in and around the doorframe [of the bedroom]” and put this in the context of Ms Curran having been discovered with an injury to her forehead.
In cross-examination, Ms Lacey went through each blood stain observed by Det Garda O’Neill. The defence barrister referenced airborne blood stains that were discovered on the stairs, and asked if it was possible that they could have been caused by the movement of a ‘blood-bearing’ person. Det Garda O’Neill replied that this was a possibility and couldn’t be excluded.
Ms Lacey asked if the other stains observed on the stairs could have been caused by someone who was bleeding ‘tumbling’ down and coming into contact with different areas on it. The Detective said if someone had fallen down the stairs in the property, which is curved, she would have expected blood to have landed on the wall where it bends, and at the bottom.
Ms Curran’s injuries ‘most consistent’ with ‘sustained’ assault
State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers detailed her findings from a post-mortem examination she conducted on Ms Curran on Sunday 26 January. Dr Okkers told the court she was made aware the deceased had a history of “chronic alcohol misuse” and was in a relationship at the time of her death. The doctor was told that Ms Curran’s partner reported she fell ‘several times’ and that she was found unresponsive downstairs at 15 O’Brien Street.
Dr Okkers said Ms Curran suffered ‘extensive’ blunt force trauma to her head, along with bruising to her scalp, eyes, and ‘whole’ face, two lacerations to her upper and lower lip, a laceration to her middle forehead, as well as an acute subdural hematoma on the inferior surface of her brain, which is typically caused by “hitting the head or another party hitting the head.”
The pathologist outlined that Ms Curran had a total of 143 separate external injuries to her body which included bruises and abrasions on her upper and lower limbs. Dr Okkers added that internally, the deceased had a laceration on the surface of her right kidney, two fractures on the back of her ribs, and a ‘traumatic’ perforation of her small bowel. She said that the abdomen injuries sustained by Ms Curran were ‘consistent’ with being caused by a punch, kick, or a stomp.
Although Ms Curran was six times over the limit with 309mg of alcohol in her system, this did not contribute to her death, Dr Okkers said.
The pathologist added that Ms Curran had ‘quite extensive’ bruising to half of the back of her head, which ‘could be’ related to a fall, and periorbital bruising as well as laceration around her left eyelid. She said that this could have been caused by punches or a fracture of the skull, which Ms Curran did not have.
Dr Okkers additionally told the jury that Ms Curran had a ‘band-like’ area of scattered abrasions across her neck, underneath her jawline. She said this injury was in keeping with ‘manual manipulation’ of the neck by fingernail scratches, which was essentially compression by someone “gripping the neck.” It was also indicated by Dr Okkers that a number of bruises that Ms Curran had on her hands and forearms appeared to be defence type injuries.
Internally, Ms Curran was found to have diffuse bruising inside the scalp, which encompassed her ‘whole’ head, Dr Okkers said. The pathologist explained that this would have been caused by blunt-force trauma to the head, such as punching or kicking, as the bruising would not have been so ‘extensive’ from an injury caused by falling. She indicated that Ms Curran suffered an axonal injury due to the rotational force of her brain shifting in her skull.
Dr Okkers concluded that the overall pattern of injuries that Ms Curran had were ‘more consistent’ with a ‘sustained’ assault than with falls.
In cross-examination, Ms Lacey asked Dr Okkers if Ms Curran’s external injuries could have been caused by Mr O’Neill lifting her from the ground onto the couch in the living room when he found her, to which the pathologist replied that ‘some’ of the injuries could have come from this.
The barrister said Mr O’Neill told Gardai that the deceased was like a ‘rag-doll’ when he found her, and queried whether some of the gripping or pulling injuries that she suffered could have occurred when he said he dressed her before calling the emergency services. Dr Okkers said some of the injuries sustained by the deceased to her inner arm and armpit could have come from this, but not all of her injuries would be ‘consistent’ with this.
Dr Okkers indicated that injuries sustained by Ms Curran to both of her forearms was indicative of someone defending themselves, and if this was caused by a fall, it would be one-sided and not on both arms. While she highlighted the injuries to both arms were not matching, they were ‘similar’.
The pathologist told Ms Lacey that some of the injuries could have been a fall, some could have been from Ms Curran defending herself, but she would have had “to fall multiple times to hit both sides [of her body].”
Additionally, Ms Lacey asked if lacerations that Ms Curran sustained to her chin could have been caused by a fall, which Dr Okkers agreed was possible. The pathologist also agreed that she couldn’t exclude the possibility that some of the injuries to the deceased’s arms could have come from Mr O’Neill lifting her upstairs, which he told Gardai he did the previous night after she fell a number of times downstairs.
Closing speeches heard
Closing speeches were delivered to the jury last Friday 24 July, as the prosecution case was completed and it was indicated that the defence would not be going into evidence.
In his closing speech, Prosecuting barrister Conor O’Doherty SC said although Ms Curran was not present to give evidence to the jury, the extent of her injuries “in some ways speaks for her.” He reiterated how the deceased was found to have sustained 143 separate external injuries along with several internal injuries.
Mr O’Doherty added that the “sheer nature and scale” of the injuries she received could not be explained by falls, and the accused adopted a “self-serving narrative” to explain what had occurred. He told the jury that the case “shines a light into a dark corner” as Ms Curran died in “a place she was meant to be safe.”
The prosecuting barrister stated that the injury to Mr O’Neill’s right hand was ‘clearly’ consistent with the severe assault of his partner, and highlighted the finding of Dr Okkers that the only other possibility for internal injuries sustained by Ms Curran, such as the perforation of her small bowel, was a road traffic collision. “That is how badly beaten this lady was,” Mr O’Doherty said.
Mr O’Doherty additionally referred to the testimony of the deceased’s colleagues, who stated that Ms Curran ‘idolised’ Mr O’Neill. He said: “Maybe that was the hope of someone in an abusive relationship that maybe it will turn around, and the good will outweigh the bad.”
The barrister highlighted to the jury it is the prosecution’s case that Mr O’Neill ‘staged the scene’ when Ms Curran had either already died or was dying, and his clean-up meant that certain areas could not be adequately examined. He said that the accused stating that he cleaned up due to his fear of Ms Curran getting an infection “doesn’t stand up” as “you clean up a murder scene to cover up what you did.”
Defence counsel Roisin Lacey SC said in her closing remarks that it was a “difficult and painful” case, but told the jury they have to “undertake the greatest analysis” of the evidence without “sympathy or animosity.”
She added that Dr Okkers had said a number of Ms Curran’s injuries were ‘consistent’ or were ‘most likely’ caused by falls, and that at least eight of her recorded injuries “could have been caused by anything.”
Ms Lacey said it is the defence’s case that Mr O’Neill “neither killed Ms Curran nor intended to kill or cause her serious harm.” She reiterated that the accused only witnessed the deceased fall four times, with anything else being “speculation on his part” as he was asleep, and only found her when he woke up the following morning.
The defence barrister told the jury that if they believe Mr O’Neill ‘might have,’ ‘possibly,’ or ‘probably’ caused Ms Curran’s injuries, that is ‘not enough’ to convict him of her murder.
In her speech, she also highlighted how Garda Paul Gleeson and Detective Garda Liam Harty both described Mr O’Neill as being intoxicated in their evidence, with Garda Gleeson saying there is a ‘vulnerability’ in dealing with someone who has alcohol in their system.
She additionally told the jury that Mr O’Neill “didn’t do a very good job” if he did ‘stage’ the murder scene, as there was a ‘considerable’ amount of blood still there when Gardai and paramedics arrived. Ms Lacey encouraged them to ‘be careful’ of the emotive description of this that was given by Mr O’Doherty.
The trial continued on Monday 27 July when Ms Justice Caroline Biggs delivered her charge to the jury of seven women and five men, who started their deliberations following this.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
