LAWYERS FOR the State have told a jury that two men on trial for murdering a Frenchman in Bray went to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and shot him through the window as the couple slept in bed.
Opening the murder trial of Declan Sheridan and James O’Connor, prosecuting counsel Una Ni Raifeartaigh SC told the jury the motive for the killing was not “terribly apparent on the evidence” but it would be the prosecution’s case the two men were guilty of the murder of Charles Sinapayen.
Mr Sheridan (25), Sugarloaf View, Sea Road, Kilcoole, and Mr O’Connor (27), Kilbridge Grove, Bray, have pleaded not guilty to murder.
Mr Sinapayen (33), who had lived in Bray for several years and was known to many as a busker in the town, was shot at his apartment at Richmond Hill, Fassaroe, at about 1.20am on May 29th, 2009. His girlfriend slept through the shooting.
Garda Lawrence O’Gorman was the first to the scene. He told the jury he saw a window had been broken in an apartment, and heard loud breathing coming from inside. When he got no answer after knocking on the door, he broke it in and found a woman sleeping in bed. He woke her and she was disoriented. He then discovered Mr Sinapayen slumped on the ground up against the bed, bleeding from two gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder.
He was rushed to hospital but never regained consciousness and died two days later.
The jury was shown black and white CCTV footage of two men outside a duplex apartment dating from 1.20am on May 29th, 2009.
The men could be seen standing outside the door for about three minutes. They then walked to the window, an object was pointed towards it and there was a quick flash, before the men walk away.
A number of neighbours described seeing a silver-coloured car parked near the scene for the jury. Ms Ni Raifeartaigh said a man driving a car matching this description was arrested by gardaí in the aftermath of the shooting, and would be one of the key witnesses in the case.
She said he would tell the jury “that he drove two men, who we say are Declan Sheridan and James O’Connor, to Richmond Hill, the inference to be taken that they shot Charles Sinapayen”. The witness will say he was asked to collect Mr O’Connor, whom he knew, on the night of the killing, and another man got into the car with him. He was told to drive to an address where the two men left the car, carrying objects. He heard two shots, and the men returned to the car in an agitated state.
He was then told to drive to another address, which the prosecution says is Ledwidge Crescent, where they again left the car carrying a number of items. They returned without the items, the man dropped them elsewhere and did not see them again that night.
Ms Ni Raifeartaigh said the family who live at Ledwidge Crescent, which adjoins a cemetery, would give evidence of seeing items in their garden on the morning of May 29th, including two tops, two pairs of runners, one bloodstained, and notified gardaí.
During follow-up searches two sawn-off shotguns were found partially buried in graves. Two spent cartridges were also discovered. The case resumes today.