Sentence hearing over Patricia O’Connor murder adjourned

The man found guilty of murdering a grandmother, whose remains were found scattered across the Dublin and Wicklow mountains, has had his sentencing adjourned until June in light of the Covid-19 restrictions.

Kieran Greene (35) was found guilty in February by a Central Criminal Court jury of inflicting “catastrophic injuries” on Patricia O’Connor (61) in a sustained attack in the bathroom of her Rathfarnham home.

He had pleaded not guilty to murdering the retired hospital worker at a house in Mountainview Park on May 29th, 2017.

The deceased’s daughter Louise O’Connor (41), her granddaughter Stephanie O’Connor (22) and Keith Johnston (43) were all found guilty of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Greene, knowing or believing him to have murdered Mrs O’Connor.

Patricia O’Connor’s husband Augustine ‘Gus’ O’Connor (76) was originally part of the trial but he pleaded guilty in January to reporting his wife as a missing person to gardaí at Rathfarnham on June 1st, 2017, knowing she was already dead.

The four were all remanded on continuing bail until Monday, when it was expected that their sentence hearings would take place. However, they were excused from attending the court and their hearings were also adjourned because of the pandemic.

Circumstances

Greene, who is in custody, was dealt with via video link on Monday by trial judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott, who told the court he was not in a position to proceed with sentencing as a result of “the circumstances that prevail”.

The judge said he proposed to put the matter in for sentence on June 22nd, when a victim impact statement would be heard.

“There may well be an indication by the court registrar to parties that their presence may not be required if the restrictions remain in place,” he added.

Greene is expected to receive the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment on June 22nd.

Louise O’Connor, a mother of five from Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, was found guilty of agreeing to or acquiescing in her daughter Stephanie O’Connor disguising herself as Patricia O’Connor at Mountainview Park on May 29th, 2017 in order to conceal the fact that Patricia O’Connor was dead.

Stephanie O’Connor, also of Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, was found guilty guilty of disguising herself as Patricia O’Connor at Mountainview Park on the same date in order to conceal the fact that her grandmother was already dead.

Johnston, of Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, was found guilty of assisting Greene in the purchase of various implements at Woodie’s, Mr Price, B&Q and Shoe Zone, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on June 9, 2017, which were to be used in the concealment of the remains of Patricia O’Connor. He is the ex-partner of Louise O’Connor and is father to two of her five children, including Stephanie O’Connor.

Dismembered

The seven-week trial heard that Patricia O’Connor’s body was dismembered into 15 parts that were found at nine different locations over a 30km range in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between June 10th and 14th, 2017.

Former deputy State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told the trial that Patricia O’Connor’s head was struck a minimum of three blows with a solid implement and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Greene had given two accounts of Patricia O’Connor’s death. In an interview with gardaí in June 2017, he said he was in the bathroom when Patricia O’Connor attacked him with a hurl. He maintained that he had disarmed her and acted in self-defence by hitting her with a hurl and, as a result of that, she may have died.

He claimed he was the only one involved in the physical altercation and had acted alone in removing her body from the house, burying her in a shallow grave in Co Wexford and subsequently dismembering her.

The trial heard that six months after he was charged with Patricia O’Connor’s murder, Greene changed his account of killing and dismembering his then partner’s mother. While on remand in Cloverhill Prison in December 2017, Greene told gardaí he had taken “the rap” and felt he was being set-up, as Louise O’Connor subsequently started out with Johnston again.

Greene claimed that, although there was an altercation, he was not responsible for Patricia O’Connor’s death, that her husband had killed her with a crowbar and that other family members were involved.