Forensic scientist Dr Diane Daly told a jury in the Central Criminal Court today that she when she went to the scene of Rachel O'Reilly's killing, she found Mrs O'Reilly's body "lying on her back on the ground with her upper body twisted to one side."
She said her head and hair were "heavily bloodstained," and that there was a 'pool of blood' beside her head.
She said there was so much blood she couldn't see the injuries nor could she see the pattern on her clothing.
She also noted a clump of severed hair next to the body.
She said there was blood in the main bedroom, the children's bedroom, hallway and bathroom, leading her to believe that Mrs O'Reilly had been: "violently beaten over a sustained period of time on the ground.
Ms Daly used a technique called 'Blood Pattern Analysis' or 'BPA' to give clues as to the sequence of the attack.
"The interpretation of these blood stain patterns can give very important analysis," she said.
She said 'cast-off blood staining' on the ceiling above the victim's head indicated she was "violently beaten for a sustained period of time while she was lying on the ground."
She also concluded the victim's "bloodied head" had been "moved from the position close to the door, to the position in which she was now lying."
No semen was found on the body of Mrs O'Reilly
She said the assailant was at some time during the assault, crouching or kneeling because of 'directional blood-spattering beside the head of the body.'
When she looked into the children's room, she noted a bloodied cardboard box.
"The staining indicated impact spatter staining and one of the flaps of the box was heavily soaked."
The box therefore "remained in contact with a heavily blood stained source for a prolonged period of time."
Ms Daly also said she noticed a number of drawers and cupboards open around the house.
When she examined the washing-machine in the utility room, she recorded items of children's clothing along with two adult shirts, one pink, one purple, and two pairs of trousers, one grey, one navy.
At a later date, she was given a number of other items for forensic examination. Among them was adult clothing, a jewellery box, camcorder and bag, and a black glove, found in the accused's room which he had never seen before.
In relation to items belonging to the accused, she found blood on a right boot of Mr O'Reilly's but no blood or anything of 'evidential value' was found in his car.
Under cross-examination by Mr Gageby SC, Ms Daly said there was a smear of blood on the door of the washing machine door and on the front of the washing machine but that it did not match that of Joe O'Reilly. Later in court, the jury heard how Mr O'Reilly felt guilty for suggesting to Rachel to stay at home on the morning of the killing.
Mrs O'Reilly had an injury from a hockey match the previous Saturday, and he thought it best she avoided the gym and stayed at home instead.
Tara Kennedy, an army corporal who grew up in the same neighbourhood as Mrs O'Reilly, attended the funeral on October 11th at the Regency Hotel. At about 2pm, she joined Mr O'Reilly's group and said one of the conversations she had with him 'stuck in her mind.'
She said the accused told them Rachel had fallen and he told her not to go to the gym because of her injury. He told them he felt bad about that because she might still be alive otherwise.
Ms Kennedy said: "We told him there was no point beating yourself up about it."
She said they then had another conversation which made her feel 'very uneasy'.
She explained: "He said it was ironic that she was killed at 10 am and that's what time her funeral was at, and that we were here and it was 2 o'clock and that's when the body was found."
She described Mrs O'Reilly as a 'lovely lovely person. Very bubbly. Very sporty. Very athletic.'
Ms Kennedy laughed as she recalled how she used to by swallowed by hugs the largely-built Rachel gave her. "I used to meet her all the time and she would embrace me in a hug and my husband would laugh as my head would just go into her there...." she said. James McNally Snr., one of the O'Reilly's neighbours, a farmer who lived opposite their house, said he had a conversation with the accused about the killing.
He said that he had not been able to attend the funeral so that when he spotted Mr O'Reilly on October 15th 2004, he decided to get out of his car and offer his condolences.
He said they spoke about the murder and that Mr O'Reilly asked him whether he had seen anything on the day of the murder.
"I said I did. I said my son and I we met a red car," he said.
When asked whether Mr O'Reilly responded to this fact, he said: "He actually said 'oh yes, that's the red Mercedes. The guards traced that car."
However, Mr McNally said it was 'definitely not' a Mercedes. "In my opinion, it was a red escort." He said the car passed them between 9.45 and 10 am and that it pulled into a grass verge to let him pass as it was a very narrow road.
Mr McNally also described another occasion when he discussed the killing with the accused.
He said he asked the accused, 'who do you think could have done it,' and that Mr O'Reilly told him 'we're all suspects, you're a suspect and I'm a suspect.'
"I just smiled and grinned, 'Well I know where I was'," he said.
His son, James McNally Jr., also gave evidence of passing a red car while with his father in his jeep.
"It was an old car. The colour was kind of faded. Something like an old Ford Escort."
Asked whether he got the car's registration number, he said it was either a 92MN or 92MH.
He said he saw two women in the car and that he thought they were his neighbours at first before his father told him it wasn't.
Mr O'Reilly (35) of Lambay View, Baldarragh, The Naul, Co Dublin has pleaded not guilty to murdering Rachel O'Reilly, his 30 year-old wife and mother of their two children at the family home on October 4th 2004.