A MAN is due to go on trial today charged with the murder of his wife whose body was recovered from the river Suir in Waterford two weeks after she disappeared from their home in the city.
John O'Brien (41), Dunavarra, Ballinakill Downs, Waterford, is charged with the murder of his wife, Meg Walsh (35), between October 1st and October 15th, 2006.
Ms Walsh, a native of Killavullen in north Cork, was reported missing by work colleagues when she failed to turn up for work at Meadowland Homes on October 2nd, 2006, after a night socialising at the Woodland Hotel in Waterford.
Her car, a silver Mitsubishi Carisma, was discovered on October 4th in the car park of the Ulura pub at Ardkeen near the entrance to Waterford Regional Hospital. This was less than two miles from Ms Walsh's home on the Dunmore East Road.
Gardaí launched a missing persons inquiry and members of the force were joined by members of the Civil Defence, the Defence Forces and hundreds of civilian volunteers in carrying out searches of both land and water near Ms Walsh's home.
Among the civilian volunteers who helped in the search were many from her native north Cork, including her brother James who joined with Ms Walsh's teenage daughter from her first marriage, Sasha Keating, to issue an appeal for information on the missing woman.
Ms Walsh's body was discovered two weeks later at about 3pm on October 15th, 2006, in the river Suir near Thomas Meagher Quay in Waterford city, when passersby saw a body floating in the water.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a postmortem examination which led to gardaí launching a murder investigation.
Mr O'Brien was charged with his wife's murder at a special sitting of Waterford District Court on June 22nd, 2007.
The trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin is expected to last about four weeks.