Murder trial in Waterford hears post-mortem details
The trial into the death of John O’Connor continued this week at Waterford Central Criminal Court.
The trial into the death of John O’Connor continued this week at Waterford Central Criminal Court.
Wayne Roche, of Dominic’s Place, Waterford City, is accused of murdering John ‘King’ O’Connor on a date between December 30-31, 2024, at 17 Cluain Fada, Morrissyland, New Ross, Co. Wexford.
John O’Connor (59) was discovered at his home on the morning of December 31 by his daughter Chloe. Roche was arrested the same day and was cautioned and charged with murder on January 2, 2025. Roche has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The trial began in late April before a jury of eight women and four men with Judge Patrick McGrath presiding.
Pathologist Dr Yvonne McCartney appeared in court to give a report of the post-mortem she performed on the late John O’Connor.
The post-mortem was carried out on January 1, 2025, the day after he was discovered in his flat at 17 Cluain Fada. The body was formally identified by Garda Niall Brophy.
Dr McCartney had seen photographs of the flat and noted "broken glass on the floor" and extensive blood staining on the walls and floors.
On the body, she noted blood on the face and mouth, haemorrhage to the right eye along with a sebaceous cyst.
According to Dr McCartney, rigor mortis had set in by the time she began the procedure. On the trunk of the body, there were multiple old scars and tattoos, notably family names and a swastika symbol inked on the chest.
Dr McCartney listed 100 separate injuries on the body of Mr O’Connor, all a mixture of lacerations, abrasions and bruising of varying degrees. Mr O’Connor had an extensive amount of bruising on his chest and abdomen. Deep lacerations were observed on his hands, as well as cuts and bruising to his arms. The lacerations had a "discontinuous" aspect, which could infer the use of an uneven or jagged implement, e.g. broken glass.
In the internal examination, Dr McCartney reported a normal brain stem and no evidence of a stroke. Haemorrhaging was detected across the abdominal sac. The liver had signs of developing cirrhosis. The toxicology report found the presence 237mg of ethanol (alcohol) per ml of blood and 0.033mg of alprazolam.
Lacerations to the spleen were detected, possibly suffered as a result of a fall/ crash/ blunt force trauma. The injuries were described as "potentially survivable" but due to the liver disease, the body could not clot the internal bleeding.
Dr McCartney reported the cause of death as abdominal haemorrhaging with liver disease acting as a contributary factor.
Chemist at the State Laboratory Ryan Geoghegan spoke about the toxicology report in court. He confirmed that Mr O’Connor had five times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
Dr Conor Young from Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) compiled DNA profiles of Wayne Roche, John O’Connor and Michael Bancewicz from various items recovered from 17 Cluain Fada. A pair of workmen boots, formally owned by Mr O’Connor, was presented in court. Both boots were stained in blood, and the left boot had lost its sole.
Parts of the boot had a DNA profile that matched Mr O’Connor, Mr Bancewicz and Mr Roche. (Mr Bancewicz had been living at the flat but left on the night of December 30 after a disagreement with Roche.)
Dr Young presented a kitchen knife that was found in a biscuit tin from the kitchen. The knife was 190mm long, 40mm wide and had blood stains. Samples taken from the knife matched the DNA profile of Wayne Roche. The butt of the knife contained a sample of blood that had a mixed profile of both Wayne Roche and John O’Connor. Dr Young told the court that a DNA sample can be gained from skin cells, not just blood.
Dr Jonathan Loftus of FSI appeared before the jury to give his account on one of the trial exhibits. Dr Loftus explained that a Nike runner impression was imprinted onto the jeans worn by Mr O’Connor. According to his findings, the shoe impression was "a thousand times more likely" to have come from a shoe worn by Roche on the night of December 30, 2024.
The trial continues.
