Two men whose bodies were discovered on an island in the midlands were “shot to death”, and the prosecution’s case is that a Dublin woman and her then-boyfriend were involved, a double murder trial jury has been told.
Ruth Lawrence shot one of the men, that shot was not fatal, but it was followed by another shot from her then-partner Neville van der Westhuizen, Michael O’Higgins SC, prosecuting, said. The prosecution case is that the second man was shot by Mr van der Westhuizen.
Anthony Keegan and Eoin O’Connor were last seen more than a month before their bodies were discovered in 2014, he said.
He was opening the prosecution case in the trial of Ms Lawrence, originally from Clontarf, who has denied the murder of Anthony Keegan (33) and Eoin O’Connor (32).
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Ms Lawrence (45), with an address at Patrick’s Cottage, Ross, Mountnugent in Co Meath, is charged with murdering Mr Keegan and Mr O’Connor at an unknown location within the State on a date unknown between April 22nd and May 26th, 2014.
Opening the trial on Thursday , Mr O’Higgins, with barrister Jane Horgan Jones, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the murder charges are put between these two dates because the prosecution can last place the men as being alive on the early evening of April 22nd, 2014.
“Thereafter they disappeared from sight,” he said. The bodies were recovered on May 26th on Inchicup island in Lough Sheelin.
He said Patrick’s Cottage, where Ms Lawrence lived with Mr van der Westhuizen, is on the Westmeath side of Lough Sheelin, while Inchicup island is about 100 metres from the shoreline at a point close to the cottage.
Both victims died from gunshot wounds, counsel said. Mr Keegan had gunshot wounds to the neck and head, while Mr O’Connor had wounds to the head and stomach. They were “shot to death”, he said.
He told the jury they are “unlikely to be troubled that the deaths were murders” but the issue is whether they are satisfied Ms Lawrence is guilty of murder. The prosecution has to prove that beyond reasonable doubt, he said.
An offence can be committed in different ways, including directly or by a joint enterprise or common design, he said. If people are on the same sheet working towards the same common aim, each is guilty, he said.
In this case, the evidence will show a bit of both was involved here, he said. The prosecution case is that Ms Lawrence was working as a unit with others, particularly her boyfriend, to kill both men.
The evidence will be that Ms Lawrence shot Mr O’Connor, that that was not a fatal shot, but it was followed up by a shot from Mr van der Westhuizen. The prosecution also contends her boyfriend shot Mr Keegan, and Ms Lawrence is also guilty because they were “a team”, he said.
Earlier, at the outset of the trial, Mr Justice Tony Hunt told the jury of eight women and four men their duty is to try the case on the basis of the evidence provided in court. At the end of the case, he will direct them on the law and their obligation is to apply the law as he has directed, he said.
Ms Lawrence does not have to play any part in the trial; the onus of proof is on the prosecution, the judge said.
Mr O’Higgins will continue his opening of the trial later this afternoon.
