Closing speeches have been heard 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. 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 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.
Dr Okkers detailed findings from a post-mortem examination she conducted on Ms Curran, which concluded that she suffered 143 separate external injuries, such as bruises and abrasions, to her body, as well as several internal injuries such as a perforation of her small bowel.
The pathologist concluded that Ms Curran’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head and abdomen, which was ‘more consistent’ with a ‘sustained’ assault than falls. The accused maintains that Ms Curran fell a number of times in the house when they were drinking alcohol together the previous night, and he found her lying downstairs in the living room when he woke up on Saturday 25 January.
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 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 Ms Curran’s injuries.
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.”
The trial continues on Monday 28 July when Ms Justice Caroline Biggs will deliver her charge to the jury, who will then begin deliberations.
You can read extensive coverage of this trial in next week’s edition of The Munster Express, out on Tuesday 28 July.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme Robyn Power
