THE JURY in the Westmeath murder trial has begun its deliberations after listening to a four-day address by the judge about the evidence surrounding the death of Brian McGrath 23 years ago.
Mr Justice John Edwards began charging the eight men and three women on Monday morning in the final phase of the month-long trial at the Central Criminal Court.
Vera McGrath (61) has pleaded not guilty to murdering her 43-year-old husband, Bernard McGrath, at their home in Lower Coole.
Her co-accused and former son-in-law, Colin Pinder (47), of Liverpool, England, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to McGrath’s manslaughter between March 10th and April 18th, 1987.
The chief prosecution witness in the trial is Mr and Ms McGrath’s daughter, Veronica McGrath, who was engaged to Pinder when her father was killed.
She testified that she saw the defendants kill and bury her father behind the family home.
The jury retired to deliberate shortly before 4.30pm yesterday, but was brought back in to be readdressed on a number of legal issues. Mr Justice Edwards said it was for the jury to decide what weight, if any, to attach to the statement and interviews Ms McGrath gave gardaí in 1993. He said the jurors could only have regard to their content if they were satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that they were voluntary and not the result of inducement or coercion.
“Bear in mind the various criticisms that have been made of the gardaí by Mr [Patrick] Gageby SC, (defending Ms McGrath) regarding the interview process,” he said. The judge told them they had to decide the case based only on what they had heard in court, and sent them home for the night.
They will resume their deliberations this morning.