Courts

Detective sprinkled himself with holy water to prove to murder accused he was not the devil

Patrick McDonagh (52) denies murdering his next-door neighbour Peter McDonald (73) in Clonsilla, Dublin, in 2020

Patrick McDonagh (52) is on trial for murder at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan

Eoin Reynolds
Fri Jan 26 2024 - 23:31

A detective garda sprinkled himself and armed officers, who had surrounded the home of a murder accused, with holy water to prove that he was not the devil and that the gardaí were “good people trying to take him out of this house peaceably,” a murder trial has heard.

The Central Criminal Court heard on Friday that, during a stand-off between armed gardaí and Patrick McDonagh, who the jury heard had a history of mental health issues, the accused told the detective that he was on the phone to God and that he believed the garda was the devil or was doing the devil’s work.

The jury also heard from Dr Edward Connolly, of Forensic Science Ireland, who found blood staining that indicated an assault on a person who was bleeding heavily in the bathroom of a neighbouring house outside which pensioner Peter McDonald was found dead in the early hours of the morning.

He said he examined swabs taken from areas of blood staining on the bathroom floor, kitchen floor, a door handle, wall and porch of the 73-year-old’s home. The DNA profile matched that of Mr McDonald, whose lifeless body had been found lying face down in his driveway by gardaí shortly after 6am on July 25th, 2020.

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Patrick McDonagh (52), with an address at Whitechapel Road, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, is charged with murdering his next-door neighbour Peter McDonald (73) on Whitechapel Road on July 25th, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The State has not accepted his plea.

The jury has heard that “gentleman” pensioner Mr McDonald was found in a pool of blood outside his home after being violently attacked with a machete by his neighbour. In his opening speech last week, Philipp Rahn SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the jury that the evidence will show that Mr McDonald died by machete and stab wounds to the head and neck in the early hours of July 25th, 2020.

Mr Rahn said he expected the main issue the jury will grapple with will be whether Mr McDonagh’s mental health on the night amounted to the “special defence of diminished responsibility”. Mr Rahn told the jury that Mr McDonald was a “quiet man, a pensioner, who kept to himself and lived with his cats” and that Mr McDonagh, who had a history of mental health issues, was his next-door neighbour for five or six years.

Dr Connolly on Friday told Mr Rahn that he went to Mr McDonald’s home the day after the incident that resulted in his death. An examination of blood stain patterns in the bathroom revealed areas of drip staining and pooling. Areas of spatter staining, he said, indicated that external force had been applied to liquid blood.

Considering the number of areas of blood staining and their different characteristics, Dr Connolly concluded that there had been an assault on a person who was bleeding heavily at the time.

There were further blood stains in Mr McDonald’s hallway and porch and outside on his driveway. The DNA profiles generated matched that of Mr McDonald, Dr Connolly said.

Det Gda Michael Hughes told Mr Rahn that he was at home in bed, having finished a shift at 4am on July 25th, 2020, when he was awoken and requested to attend an ongoing incident.

He arrived at Mr McDonagh’s house at 9.06am and was made aware that Mr McDonagh had requested him and indicated he would speak only to Det Gda Hughes. The detective said he knew Mr McDonagh through his work in community policing.

Mr McDonagh was inside his own house which was surrounded by armed gardaí and professional negotiators.

Sgt David Swan told Mr Rahn that he was the primary negotiator on the team but when he tried to engage with Mr McDonagh it was “more me talking than a conversation with Mr McDonagh”. The decision was taken to allow Gda Hughes to speak to Mr McDonagh.

Det Gda Hughes said he spoke to Mr McDonagh “on and off” for a couple of hours, mainly on the topic of religion and God. Mr McDonagh told Det Gda Hughes that he was praying for him and asked him to go away and return at 6pm for the angelus.

After a period of about 20 minutes from 11.15am, during which Mr McDonagh did not engage in any conversation, armed gardaí entered the house where they subdued and arrested Mr McDonagh.

Under cross-examination, Det Gda Hughes agreed with defence counsel John Fitzgerald SC that he had known Mr McDonagh since 2012 and they had developed a friendship. He described Mr McDonagh as generally approachable, friendly and engaging but on that morning he was agitated and aggressive.

The main topic of conversation had been religion and god and at one point the detective believed he heard Mr McDonagh speaking on the phone and saying that he was talking to God.

At one point he said Mr McDonagh seemed unconvinced that he and the other gardaí were there to help. He recalled Mr McDonagh accusing him of being the devil or doing the devil’s work, so when Mr McDonagh handed a bottle of holy water out through the letterbox, Det Gda Hughes took it and sprinkled himself and other gardaí with it.

He said he did so to prove to Mr McDonagh that he was not the devil and that the gardaí were “good people trying to take him out of this house peaceably. I wanted to prove to him that I was there to help him,” he said.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Michael MacGrath and a jury of nine men and three women.

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