A man has gone on trial charged with the murder of his partner in Waterford city last year.
Marcus O’Neill (35) of 15 O’Brien Street, Waterford, is charged with the murder of 47-year-old Tramore woman Gillian Curran on 25 January 2025, after she was found unresponsive by emergency services in the house that morning. The accused, who has been remanded in custody since then, has pleaded not guilty and denied the murder.
The trial opened before Ms. Justice Caroline Biggs at the Central Criminal Court in Waterford on Thursday 9 July, and is anticipated to last around three weeks.
A jury of seven women and five men have been empanelled for the trial, with Conor O’Doherty SC and Niall Storan BL acting as prosecuting counsel, and Roisin Lacey SC and Tom Giles Kelly BL representing the accused.
Mr. O Doherty opened the proceedings last Thursday and told the jury what they could expect to hear. He said that the case concerned an alleged incident that occurred in a private residence where only the accused and Ms. Curran were present, and they will hear evidence of “significant injuries” that she was discovered with.
An accident or a ‘violent assault’
Mr. O’Doherty said it is up to the jury to decide whether Ms. Curran received these injuries as a result of an accident or a “violent assault.”
The barrister said that the two parties were in a relationship at the time, and although Ms. Curran did not live at 15 O’Brien Street, she regularly stayed over there, and was there the night of 24 January 2025. He also told the jury they would hear that both the accused and Ms. Curran had alcohol addiction issues.
Mr. O’Doherty added that on the morning of 25 January 2025, the accused claims he woke up shortly before 10.00am, and allegedly found Ms. Curran lying unresponsive in the living room of the property.
O’Neill made a 999 call and informed paramedics when they arrived that Ms. Curran had “multiple falls” the night before, Mr. O’Doherty said. The barrister added that the accused said he originally found Ms. Curran’s body naked, but had put clothes on her and cleaned areas of the living room before he called the emergency services.
Mr. O’Doherty also told the jury they would hear evidence from Gardaí who attended the scene and observed blood staining and a smell of bleach in the living room. The accused was observed with a swollen right hand, and told Gardaí that he got the injury a few days before when he punched a wall.
When O’Neill was formally arrested on 25 January, he maintained that any injuries sustained by Ms. Curran were as a result of ‘drunken’ falls. He denied any arguments between them, but accepted they had a ‘minor’ disagreement earlier on that night, Mr. O’Doherty told the jury.
The barrister also stated that the jury will hear evidence from State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers, who will explain that findings from a post-mortem conducted on Ms. Curran concluded that she suffered “multiple blunt-force traumatic” injuries. He told the court the jury will see CCTV footage of both parties’ movements the night before, where the accused “freely uses his right hand,” and will hear evidence from neighbours and some of Ms. Curran’s work colleagues, who had observed ‘frequent’ injuries to her, determining that they were from a “volatile and abusive relationship.”
Mr. O’Doherty summarised that the prosecution’s case was ultimately that Ms. Curran’s death was a result of a ‘violent’ assault.
Ms. Lacey made a number of admissions to the jury on behalf of the defence, which means that not all witnesses will have to be called during the trial. The admissions included that the accused accepts he was lawfully detained and interviewed.
A number of Garda witnesses gave evidence during the first day of the trial. Detective Garda Caroline Hughes of the Garda Technical Bureau testified that she attended the scene at 15 O’Brien Street that morning, and returned two days later to take various photos in areas around the house, including the living room, where Ms. Curran was found lying on the sofa.
The photos showed blood staining on the bannister and a step of the stairs, a top, as well as a bra and tracksuit bottoms that were in a laundry basket in the house. Det Garda Hughes also took photos from inside both bedrooms in the house, with blood staining captured on a duvet, pillowcase and sheet in one, and staining on the floor and a wall in the second room.
It was established that only one of these was used as a bedroom in the house, with the other used as a storage room.
A 999 call made by O’Neill at 9.56am on 25 January 2025 was played to the court. His voice could be heard telling the call handler that he came downstairs and found his girlfriend on the floor after she had fallen over a few times the night before. O’Neill said he could hear her heartbeat but that her breathing seemed ‘low.’
The call handler instructed O’Neill to begin chest compressions, and he said “she’s making a weird noise when I do it.”
Paramedics could be heard arriving at the house in the background of the call, and the accused said: “She was drinking last night and fell over a few times, she hit her head.”
Garda Eugene O’Neill gave evidence that he attended the scene at 15 O’Brien Street as a crime scene examiner. Garda O’Neill said that the accused was arrested that morning and his clothes were seized. A number of photos of him taken at Waterford Garda Station were shown to the jury, showing him in his cell and close up photos of his hands and clothing. There was staining observed on his t-shirt and parts of his jeans, Garda O’Neill told the court.
Paramedics observed ‘extensive’ injuries
On the second day of the trial, paramedics Cillian Byrnes and John Wilson, who were both first at the scene that morning, gave evidence. Mr. Byrnes said when they arrived at the house, they met the accused and found Ms. Curran lying on her back on the sofa, with ‘extensive’ facial injuries and bruising.
After an electrocardiogram (ECG) was completed on her, they determined that there was no electricity in her heart and that she had no pulse. Mr. Wilson said that Ms. Curran’s injuries were found to be “incompatible with life”, and when Dr Paul Campbell arrived at the house, a decision was made not to begin resuscitation.
Mr. Byrnes told the court that the accused was pacing behind the sofa during this time, saying that Ms. Curran had fallen over a few times, and that he had injured himself helping her. He also told Gardai this when they arrived.
Dr Paul Campbell, a GP and National Ambulance Service pre-hospital responder volunteer told the court that when he arrived at the house around five minutes after the paramedics, Ms. Curran was on the couch and attached to a cardiac monitor. Dr Campbell said that a decision was made not to begin CPR, and Ms. Curran was formally pronounced dead at 10.23am.
He told the court that he noticed Ms. Curran had injuries to her face and body, which included large soft-tissue swelling around her eyes, a deep vertical laceration above her right eye which he estimated to be around 4cm, palpable bruises and blood on her body, and what ‘felt like’ rib fractures.
At the scene, Gardaí asked Dr Campbell to examine the accused, as he had reported pain in his right knee and elbow. Dr Campbell said he had full range of movement and no major problems after completing the examination.
The jury were then shown a montage of CCTV footage of the accused and Ms. Curran’s movements around Waterford city during the evening before her death, on Friday 24 January 2025.
Detective Garda Kevin Cleere took the court through this footage, which showed Ms. Curran arriving at 15 O’Brien Street shortly after 5.00pm that evening. The accused and Ms. Curran then left the house together at 5.32pm, and began walking.
The footage showed them walking through Ballybricken, and into Centra on The Quay, where Ms. Curran is seen buying items at the till. It then showed them walking into the former Aldi store at The Glen, and then towards Supervalu, The Hypercentre. They left both shops and walked towards Homesavers, Ballybricken shortly before 6.30pm that evening, where O’Neill was seen buying a bottle of orange soft drink.
Det Garda Cleere screenshotted four still images from this footage, which were shown to the jury. The first two images were taken at the Customer Service Desk in Supervalu, showing O’Neill taking something from the bag he was carrying. His right hand can be seen in both images.
The third and fourth images were taken in Homesavers, and shows O’Neill’s hand as he hands money to the cashier. Det Cleere testified that it was his right hand handling the money, as his thumb was on the left side.
In the footage, Ms. Curran and the accused were then seen walking back towards 15 O’Brien Street, arriving there after 6.30pm that evening. The next clip played showed an ambulance arriving at the house shortly after 10.00am the following morning, 25 January 2025.
The trial continues.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme Robyn Power
