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Patricia O'Connor

Man accused of murdering his partner's mother was visited by his girlfriend three times while he was on remand

The trial has heard that the body of Mrs O’Connor was dismembered into 15 separate parts.

THE DAUGHTER OF a retired grandmother, whose dismembered remains were found scattered in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains, visited her then partner while he was on remand in prison charged with the alleged murder, the Central Criminal Court has heard. 

Kieran Greene (34) has pleaded not guilty to murdering Patricia O’Connor (61) at her home in Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on May 29, 2017.

The deceased’s daughter Louise O’Connor (41) and granddaughter Stephanie O’Connor (22), both of Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, Dublin 14, and Louise O’Connor’s ex-partner Keith Johnston (43), of Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin 24 are all charged with impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene, knowing or believing him to have committed an arrestable offence, to wit the murder of Mrs O’Connor on May 29, 2017.
 
The trial has heard that the body of Mrs O’Connor was dismembered into 15 separate parts that were found at nine different locations over a 30km range in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between June 10 and 14, 2017. 

Irish Prison Service senior manager Walter Burke was today tendered by the prosecution at the request of the defence in the trial. 

Mr Burke confirmed to Conor Devally SC, for Mr Greene, that he oversaw the extraction of details regarding visits made by people to Mr Greene at Cloverhill Prison, where he was on remand, between June 17, 2017 and September 7, 2017.

In his evidence, Mr Burke said a list of visits indicated that mother-of-five Louise O’Connor visited Mr Greene at Cloverhill Prison on June 17th, 2017. Mr Burke confirmed that Louise O’Connor was noted as being Mr Greene’s “girlfriend” at the time of the visit.
 
He told the court that this detail concerning his relationship status with Louise O’Connor would have been stated by Mr Greene. 

The witness said that Keith Johnston visited Mr Greene on September 2, 2017 and Mr Greene would have noted him as a “friend”.

 
Keith Johnston and Louise O’Connor visited Mr Greene together on two more occasions, namely October 14, 2017 and November 16, 2017, he said. Mr Johnston’s status was again recorded as a “friend” and Louise O’Connor was recorded as a “girlfriend”.

Mr Burke said that the prison service does not record the names of children under the age of 18 but, instead, records them numerically. Children were also present during some of Louise O’Connor’s visits, the court heard.
 
Earlier, Garda Roisin Rowley Burke gave evidence in relation to CCTV footage, which partially captured the front of Mrs O’Connor’s Rathfarnham house. 
 
Garda Rowley Burke told prosecution counsel Roisin Lacey SC that the last time she saw Mrs O’Connor on the front camera footage was at 3.08pm on May 29, 2017. 
The witness told the court she had not observed any other person on CCTV footage entering or leaving the property between 6.56pm and 9.34pm on May 29.

The court has heard that Louise O’Connor, Stephanie O’Connor and some children left the house at 6.53pm that night. 

Garda Rowley Burke said she saw Mrs O’Connor’s husband, Augustine ‘Gus’ O’Connor walking down the driveway of Mountainview on May 29 at 6.56pm and turning left. 

The garda also confirmed to Ms Lacey that she did not see a silver Toyota Corolla parked in the driveway of Patricia O’Connor’s home leaving between 6.56pm and 9.34pm.

Defence counsel Garnet Orange SC, for Stephanie O’Connor, asked Garda Rowley Burke to confirm that the entire garden was not visible on the CCTV footage. She said she couldn’t see the side passageway at Mountainview. 

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six men and six women. 

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