THE TWO sides in the trial of a Waterford man accused of murdering his wife have been making their closing speeches at the Central Criminal Court. John O'Brien (41), Ballinakill Downs, Co Waterford, denies murdering Meg Walsh (35) between October 1st, 2006, and October 15th, 2006.
The mother of one's body was recovered from the River Suir on October 15th. She had died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Speaking for the prosecution, Dominic McGinn BL, told the jury it was a difficult case to decide because there were gaps in the prosecution case. It was impossible to tell where or when Meg Walsh was killed, when or how the body was disposed of, but he said that all the evidence pointed to one inescapable conclusion.
Mr McGinn said that since Mr O'Brien knew he had not killed his wife at home he would have no difficulty giving the Garda access.
The same was not true of Meg's Mitsubishi Carisma. "The car is the real crime scene." It had been found several days after Meg's disappearance covered in her blood.
However, he said that, for a man whose wife was missing, who was supposed to be helping the Garda investigation, he had been disingenuous and evasive.
Mr McGinn said Mr O'Brien's accounts of his movements on Sunday, October 1st, and Monday, October 2nd, were full of discrepancies and did not tally with independent evidence. In particular, Sunday afternoon and Monday evening were largely unaccounted for. These periods tallied with the sightings of the car, which the prosecution say he used to move Meg's body to the point it was disposed of and then abandoned in the carpark of the Uluru pub.
He said that despite what Mr O'Brien had told gardaí, his marriage was breaking down after he assaulted Ms Walsh less than two weeks before her disappearance. Mr McGinn said that Mr O'Brien knew that, after signing over the house to his wife, if she left him, he would be left with nothing.
He told the jury that there was "only one inescapable conclusion from the evidence and that is that John O'Brien is guilty of murder".
Speaking in Mr O'Brien's defence, Paddy McCarthy SC told the jury the prosecution case had required them to ignore their duty to presume his client's innocence. No incriminating evidence had been found in his house or car.
He said that the gardaí had clung to a false presumption that the only way Mr O'Brien's DNA could have got into the boot of his wife's car was when he cut away a heavily bloodstained section and this had poisoned their approach.
Mr McCarthy said that sighting of the silver Carisma coincided with times when Mr O'Brien was giving a statement to gardaí and that if he was not driving the car then the real murderer must have had an extra key to the car.
Mr Justice Barry White will begin his charge this morning.