Cold-case trial hears widow already dead when house set on fire

A murder trial has heard that a widowed pensioner was subjected to head injuries and strangled before a fire was started in her Kilkenny home 30 years ago.

State Pathologist Marie Cassidy was giving evidence to the Central Criminal Court on Friday morning in the cold-case trial of a 53-year-old man accused of her murder.

John Joseph Malone is charged with murdering Ann 'Nancy' Smyth (69) on September 11th, 1987 at her home on Wolfe Tone Street in Kilkenny City.

Mr Malone of Newpark in Kilkenny City has pleaded not guilty.

Prof Cassidy testified that she had received the report, notes and photographs from Mrs Smyth’s postmortem exam, which had been carried out by her predecessor. She had also been told that Mrs Smyth had been heard shouting hours before her body had been found.

She said Prof John Harbison had found burns to the left side of the victim’s body and a bruise and graze above her left eyebrow. He observed an intermittent horizontal pressure mark on the back of her neck and pinpoint haemorrhages below that mark.

“That’s very often seen where there’s been a lack of oxygen before death,” explained Prof Cassidy.

Prof Harbison had also seen bruising and swelling above and behind the ear and bleeding under the scalp. He noted internal bleeding around the windpipe and thyroid gland, at the base of the tongue and around the hyoid bone.

There were several injuries to the Adam’s apple and thyroid cartilage, which was fractured in a number of places.

No smoke inhaled

The jury heard that there were no traces of any soot or smoke in the pharynx, trachea or lungs. Prof Cassidy said this was of significance in this instance, where the body had been removed from a house fire with burn marks.

“There was no evidence to suggest she had inhaled any of the smoke,” she said.

Under the microscope, Prof Harbison had confirmed fresh bleeding into the tissues, consistent with recent trauma. He also examined burnt skin.

“He was looking to see if there was a burn while she was alive, a vital reaction,” explained Prof Cassidy. “There was no vital reaction.”

She said his conclusion was that Mrs Smyth had been subjected to head injuries and strangled manually before the fire started. He gave the cause of death as asphyxia due to manual strangulation.

Prof Cassidy said she also examined the photographs taken at the autopsy. She said they supported the conclusion that death was due to compression of the neck. She said the bruising to the neck raised a possibility of either manual or ligature strangulation, but the strangulation could also be caused by an arm lock or a hand being put against the neck.

“There was sufficient force to fracture the thyroid cartilage and for long enough to cause the petechial haemorrhages,” she said.

“The bruising to the scalp is consistent with punches or the head being struck against a hard surface. The trauma to the mouth could have been as a result of a blow or a hand being held against the mouth.”

She said the burns were peri or postmortem.

“She was already dead when the fire started,” she explained, giving her cause of death as asphyxia due to neck compression.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of five women and seven men.