Jury finds Lillis guilty of manslaughter but not murder

EAMONN LILLIS, the 52-year-old advertising director accused of murdering his wife, Celine Cawley, was yesterday found not guilty of her murder, but guilty of her manslaughter. The jury of six women and six men said the State had failed to prove intent.

Ms Cawley was found dead at their home at Rowan Hill, Windgate Road, Howth, on December 15th, 2008. A member of a well-known Dublin family, she was founder and managing director of Toytown Films, a television commercials production company, and before that had been a successful model.

The verdict came at 6.25pm to a tense, packed court. The jury had been deliberating for nine hours and 28 minutes over 2½ days. The verdict, by a 10-2 majority, followed a 14-day trial at the Central Criminal Court. Two of the jurors appeared to have been crying yesterday evening.

Lillis, who will be sentenced on Thursday, looked pale and dazed, but gave no reaction. His sister and a handful of friends sat perfectly still.

In the bench reserved for the Cawley family throughout the three-week trial, Chris Cawley, Celine’s only brother, turned his head slowly from side to side, as if in disbelief.

His daughter Joanna held her mother Sorca’s hand and wept quietly, raising her head as Mr Justice Barry White agreed to bail, pending a hearing next Thursday at 10.30am.

Defence counsel had requested time for Lillis to get his affairs in order. “Convict as he now is, he will be . . . required to sign on twice daily in the interim”, Mr Justice White told the court. His passport had already been surrendered.

He thanked the jury for their service and said “it was clear they had paid great attention to the case. I have no doubt there were additional pressures in this trial, having regard to the public attention it has attracted”. He then exempted them from further jury service for life.

He also said that knowing the reason for their decision would be of assistance in sentencing.

Earlier, the jurors had sought direction from Mr Justice White on definitions in respect of the verdicts of murder, manslaughter and acquittal.

He told them that, “to paraphrase, where a person kills another unlawfully, the killing shall not be a murder unless the person intended to kill or seriously injure”. He said if the State “proves an unlawful killing, but fails to prove intent, then the appropriate verdict is manslaughter”.

Ms Cawley died in hospital of blunt-force trauma to the head. During the trial, the Deputy State Pathologist said that moderate force would have caused the three wounds to Ms Cawley’s head that resulted in blood loss and asphyxia. He said she might not have died if medical help had been summoned more quickly.

Lillis, who was having an affair with his masseuse, Jean Treacy, said he found an intruder attacking his wife on their patio. At his trial he admitted that there was no intruder.

As a large crowd of onlookers and journalists began to filter out of court, the Cawley family remained in their seats: Chris Cawley with his arm around his wife, while Susanna, Celine’s surviving sister, wiped away tears. James Cawley, Celine’s 80-year-old father, seemed to reflect quietly for a while before crossing the aisle with Joanna to hug and talk briefly to Eamonn Lillis’s sister.

Also in court were Susanna’s husband, Andrew Coonan; Rory Quigley, who was married to the late Barbara Cawley, with their three children, Caroline, Robert and David; and Joanna’s brother Conor. Juliette Hussey, a lifelong friend of Celine’s, was also in court, along with Emma O’Beirne, who worked with Celine in Toytown Films.

After a few minutes, both Chris Cawley and Andrew Coonan told the assembled media that they would have nothing to say as the case was ongoing. Then they walked away together from the courts, the three Quigley children arm in arm, and Susanna’s arm linked to her father’s.