A "gentle and quiet" woman was shot dead in the chest with a shotgun by two men who made a "violent entry" into her home, the trial of two Dublin men accused of murder heard at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Conor Grogan (26), Avonbeg Park, and Timothy Rattigan (26), St Dominick's Terrace, both in Tallaght, Dublin, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Joan Casey (65) at Avonbeg Park on April 3rd, 2004.
Edward Comyn SC, prosecuting, outlined the case to the jury.
Early on that Saturday morning, Mrs Casey was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, her brother Frank Oakley was in a downstairs room and her husband Dominick, from whom she was separated, was sleeping in a converted shed in the back garden.
"Two men, with a shotgun, broke into Mrs Casey's house, went upstairs and shot her in the bedroom," Mr Comyn said.
During this "violent entry", the glass on the outer door had been smashed. "There was an attempt to kick in the door. You may conclude that the door was secured," the jury was told.
"Two shots were discharged through the bedroom door." One of the shots hit the wall and the other hit Mrs Casey in her chest, causing her death. The court heard it was not possible "to say with certainty" which of the two men fired the shotgun, but Mr Comyn said it did not matter.
The court was told that Mrs Casey's killing could have been a case of mistaken identity.
"It is the prosecution's case that both of these men went there with the intent of fatally shooting Mrs Casey, or perhaps, and there is a perhaps in this case, someone else," Mr Comyn said.
The fact that Mrs Casey was the wrong victim did not matter, the jury was told. "The intent to kill is the essential element here."
The two men were seen walking "slowly and casually" away from the house, the court heard. One of them was carrying a shotgun. He said there would be evidence that a shotgun, two spent cartridges, two unused cartridges and a pistol were found in a bag near Mrs Casey's home.
A fingerprint on the shotgun was matched to Mr Rattigan's, the court heard, and fragments of glass similar to those on the broken outer door home were found on Mr Grogan's runners.
The trial continues today.