A carer has told the trial of a man accused of murdering three members of his family at their Co Louth home of the moment she mistook a body lying in the front garden and “drenched in blood” for a Halloween decoration.
Another witness also told the Central Criminal Court on Thursday that when she asked the accused whether the sirens they could hear were for him, Robert O’Connor replied: “Yes, I killed them.”
When rearraigned before the Central Criminal Court last week, Robert O’Connor (32), of Drumgowna, Louth village, Dundalk, Co Louth, pleaded not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility to the triple murder of his mother Louise O’Connor (56), his father Mark O’Connor (54) and his younger brother Evan O’Connor (27) at their home in Drumgowna between September 28th and 29th, 2025, both dates inclusive.
In her opening address, prosecuting barrister Róisín Lacey said the accused had episodes of psychosis from a young age and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2018. The barrister said the “battleground” between the prosecution and defence in the trial was whether the accused qualifies for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The panel has also been told that the accused accepted he caused the death of the three victims, who had sustained a combined 139 stab wounds.
Giving evidence to the trial on Thursday, special-needs support worker Loreto Durrigan told Lacey that she worked for an organisation called Praxis Care which provides support for people with special needs.
She said she had a habit of reversing into the driveway of Drumgowna so it was easy for Evan O’Connor – who had severe autism and an intellectual disability – to put his bag into the boot of her car, which she explained was part of his routine.
When she arrived at Drumgowna at 9.32am on September 28th, Durrigan said she reversed in and thought she saw a Halloween decoration inside the gates. The witness thought this was “very unusual”, as Louise O’Connor would not usually decorate the house for Halloween.
The witness said she remained in the car for about two minutes but did not see Evan or hear anything.
Durrigan said that when she got out of the car and walked towards the gates, she saw a body drenched in blood from head to toe. “At the time I didn’t realise it was a body, I had to look twice,” she added.
The witness said that when she looked past the two cars parked in the driveway, she saw Evan O’Connor lying on his back with his head on a step facing the patio doors.
Durrigan said she then had another look at what she had initially seen behind the gates and realised it was Mark O’Connor’s body. There was a white shoe on the lawn beside him.
She got into the car and drove around the back to a neighbour’s house. The witness was on the phone to gardaí at 9.38am when Martina Malone came out of her house. Durrigan told Malone that Evan and Mark were dead. Malone then brought the carer into her house and locked the door behind them.
The witness said she was quite distressed at the time and had known the O’Connor family for the previous seven years.
Durrigan said she had met the accused three weeks before this and found him very polite. She said Mark and Louise O’Connor were lovely people, but very private.
Martina Malone told the jurors she lived quite close to the O’Connor home and became aware of something “kicking off” at Drumgowna on the evening of September 28th, when she heard “a roar or a shout”.
The trial continues on Friday before Justice Mícheál P O’Higgins and a jury of six men and six women.