A 27-year-old woman suffered 51 separate injuries, including 25 knife wounds, some of which pierced her heart and were not survivable, a murder trial has heard.
Daena Walsh, a mother of two originally from Co Wicklow, was found dead in a Co Cork apartment she shared with her partner, Adam Corcoran (31), in 2024.
Corcoran, a native of Ballincollig, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Walsh at John Barry House, Connolly Street, Midleton on August 2nd 2024. He also denies causing criminal damage by arson to the apartment on the same occasion.
The trial has heard that Corcoran called the emergency services and claimed that Walsh was stabbing herself.
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State pathologist Dr Yvonne McCartney told the jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork that she carried out a postmortem on Walsh at Cork University Hospital on August 3rd, 2024.
McCartney listed a total of 51 separate injuries that she found on Walsh’s body. These included 25 knife wounds to the face, neck, chest, abdomen and limbs as well as some burn injuries.
Of these 25 knife wounds, 14 were incision wounds, where the cuts were longer than they were deep, and 11 were stab wounds, where the wounds were deeper than they were long.
The pathologist said a number of the stab wounds were not survivable, particularly a cluster over Walsh’s heart, with four of these piercing the right atrium.
Another wound pierced Walsh’s aorta and another four punctured her lungs, the court heard.
McCartney said Walsh also suffered a number of incision wounds to her hands and arms, but she told defence counsel Brendan Grehan that, on the balance of probability, these were likely defensive rather than self-inflicted wounds due to their number and pattern.
She said she examined Walsh’s airways and took blood samples. The fact there was no soot or debris in her airways, and her carbon monoxide saturation levels were at zero, well below the fatal limit of 80 per cent, indicated Walsh was already dead when the fire started in the apartment.
She also took blood samples and found an alcohol level of 40mg per 100ml of blood, below the legal drink driving limit. There were traces of cocaine, antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs, all within the therapeutic range and none of which were a factor in the woman’s death.
Asked by prosecution counsel Donal O’Sullivan to summarise her findings, McCartney said Walsh died as a result of multiple sharp force injuries to the face, neck, chest and abdomen leading to haemorrhage, hypovolaemic shock and cardiorespiratory arrest.
Earlier, the jury was shown CCTV footage of Corcoran and Walsh’s movements in Midleton on the day of her death. It included Corcoran visiting the Number 21 off-licence at 12.30pm alone and returning at around 2pm with Walsh. They bought some Four Loko and vodka.
In one CCTV clip, the couple are seen leaving the off-licence shortly after 2pm and kissing as they walked down the street. They then returned to the apartment where Walsh was found dead later that afternoon.
