A murder trial jury has heard how the victim was stabbed and hacked from head to toe in a "sustained and vicious assault" during which the killer attempted to decapitate him.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy told the trial that the deceased, Derek Benson, was stabbed 25 times and that some of these wounds went through the body from front to back. In addition, he sustained 60 cutting or incised wounds extending "from his head to his toes".
Ms Jacqui Noble, former partner of the dead man, and Mr Paul Hopkins, a pub doorman, are jointly charged with the murder of Derek Benson in Ballymun, Dublin, in May 2000, in what the State alleges is a contract killing.
In the Central Criminal Court yesterday Dr Cassidy told Mr Tom O'Connell SC, prosecuting, the deceased sustained a total of 17 wounds to the head and neck. One of these was a "gaping wound" to the neck which cut through to the cervical spine.
Dr Cassidy said this was a "slicing or hacking injury" as if in an attempt to decapitate the victim.
Dr Cassidy told the court Mr Benson suffered wounds to the arms and hands which severed multiple muscle tendons. A number of these cuts to the forearms and palms were consistent with defensive type injuries.
The Deputy State Pathologist told the court the multiple injuries suffered by Mr Benson were consistent with a "sustained and vicious assault".
The direction of the injuries indicate that "at some stage" the deceased "was on the ground during the attack".
Asked to conclude the cause of death, she replied: "Multiple stab, incise and cutting injuries to the head, trunk and limbs."
Ms Noble of Knowth Court, Ballymun, and Mr Hopkins of Sillogue Road, Ballymun, have both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Benson on May 13th, 2000.
The trial continues today.