A 52-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Helen Donegan (30), whose badly decomposed body was found in the boot of a car earlier this month in Newcastle, Co Dublin.
Helen Donegan’s badly decomposed remains were discovered in the back of a silver grey Saab estate car outside a rented garage in Newcastle, Co Dublin, last week.
Bernard Curran, whose address was given as no fixed abode, was arrested in Clondalkin, west Dublin last Tuesday and appeared briefly today at Blanchardstown District Court accused of the 30-year-old’s murder.
Detective Sergeant Declan Dunne, of Clondalkin Garda Station, told the court that when he was charged, Mr Curran replied: “I don’t know what to say.”
The officer said he added: “I suppose just it was an accident, it was not intentional.”
Mr Curran, who appeared in court wearing a navy shirt and jeans, was remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on Thursday.
Judge Patrick McMahon also granted applications for legal aid and psychiatric and psychological reports.
Ms Donegan, from Ballyfermot, west Dublin, who had a 12-year-old son, had been missing for almost seven weeks.
She was last seen at her rented home in St Patrick’s Park, Celbridge, Co Kildare, on the morning of May 6th.
A postmortem examination showed she died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Detectives believe she was murdered shortly after she went missing from her house. Her disappearance was reported 11 days later.
Last Tuesday night gardai found her remains during a search outside a transport yard at Kilmactalway, Aylmer Road, in Newcastle. DNA tests and dental records were needed to identify her.
Garda technical experts have carried out tests at the lock-up, a second Kildare garage where the body was stored for a time and on a recovered shotgun.
PA