An inquest was held yesterday into the death of west Cork widow Ann Corcoran whose murder last year was the subject of a recent trial. The jury heard Garda evidence of how part-time painter and decorator Oliver Hayes had admitted to hitting Ms Corcoran (60) on the head with a counter top and tying a gag in her mouth in a bid to get her to tell him the pin number for her ATM card.
Hayes, Clancool Terrace, Bandon, was convicted last March of murder and false imprisonment and was sentenced to life in prison.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the inquest in Bandon yesterday that Ms Corcoran died from a combination of blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxia from being gagged and she believed that her death was protracted.