LAST UPDATE | 28 Feb 2020

A “TRUSTED MEMBER” of Patricia O’Connor’s extended family has been convicted of helping her murderer buy DIY tools, which he knew were to be used in the dismemberment of the grandmother’s remains.

Handyman Keith Johnston (43) was this morning found guilty of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene (35), knowing or believing him to have murdered Mrs O’Connor (61) on 29 May 2017.

The jury accepted the prosecution’s case against trained tiler Johnston that he knew or believed that DIY tools purchased by Greene were to be used in the dismemberment of Mrs O’Connor remains.

Father-of-three Greene was on Tuesday found guilty of murdering the retired hospital worker and inflicting “catastrophic injuries” on her in a sustained attack in the bathroom of her Rathfarnham home.

Louise O’Connor (41) and Stephanie O’Connor (22) were both found guilty this week of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Greene, knowing or believing him to have murdered Mrs O’Connor on May 29, 2017.

Johnston of Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin 24 is the ex-partner of the deceased’s daughter, Louise O’Connor, and is father to two of her five children including Stephanie O’Connor.

He had denied assisting Greene in the purchase of various implements at Woodie’s, Mr Price, B&Q and Shoe Zone, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on 9 June 2017, which were to be deployed in the concealment of the remains of Mrs O’Connor.

The jury took 12 hours and four minutes to come to their final unanimous verdict in the case.

Following today’s verdict, Justice Paul McDermott thanked the jury for their dedication to the case and exempted them from jury service for the rest of their lives.

The seven-week trial heard that the body of Mrs O’Connor, of Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 was dismembered into 15 separate parts that were found at nine different locations over a 30km range in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between 10 and 14 June 2017.

Former Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, gave evidence that Mrs O’Connor’s head was struck a minimum of three blows with a solid implement and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.