A FORMER PARTNER of murder accused Graham Dwyer has told his trial that his fantasy was to stab a woman while having sex with her.
Mr Dwyer (42) is charged with murdering Elaine O’Hara at Killakee, Rathfarnham on 22 August 2012, hours after she was discharged from a mental health hospital.
The Cork-born father of three from Kerrymount Close, Foxrock, Dublin has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 36-year-old childcare worker on that date.
Ms McShea testified today – the 22nd day of the Central Criminal Court trial – that she had been in a relationship with Mr Dwyer when she was in college in the early 1990s. She said that she gave birth to their son, Senan McShea, in 1992.
Kitchen knife in the bedroom, court hears
She recalled one night when Mr Dwyer had told her that his fantasy involved stabbing a woman while having sex with her.
She confirmed that he then started to bring a kitchen knife into their bedroom and would pretend to stab her during sex. She also confirmed that he had never actually stabbed her.
Ms McShea also said that, when checking her post last November, she noticed a birthday card addressed to her son in his father’s handwriting.
She contacted her son, who requested she open it. The note inside was read out in court. This was what it contained:
Everything going well here. All forensics clear and we are sure of an acquittal now we have a mountain of evidence that it was a suicide.
She also confirmed that Gardaí had shown her CCTV footage and stills from Ms O’Hara’s apartment block as part of the investigation. She said that she was able to identify Mr Dwyer on the footage in January, June, July and August 2012.
Senan McShea testified that he too had identified his father in CCTV images from Ms O’Hara’s home at Belarmine Plaza, Stepaside.
He also confirmed that he had given his mother permission to open the card from his father when she had called him in November 2014, and also to pass the card on to gardaí.
Mr McShea was asked about July 2012, when his father had contacted him to say he would be near his home in Donegal if he would like to meet. He confirmed that his father had texted him from a 087 number.
The accused man’s younger brother, Brendan Dwyer, was next to give evidence. He confirmed that by the time that the Garda investigation was taking place in October 2013, the last time he had met his brother had been early the previous month. He said that he had met him in Blind Strand, Cork with his father, brother and his brother’s brother-in-law.
The jury also heard yesterday from Detective Garda Bríd Wallace of the Garda Siochana’s Computer Crime Unit. She gave details of the examination she carried out on Ms O’Hara’s laptops.
Books on Ms O’Hara’s laptops included Murder Inc. The Book
She outlined three documents she found in a folder labelled, Read This, on her Apple MacBook.
These included a book entitled: 21 Techniques of Silent Killing, a booklet entitled: Hidden Secret Weapons and a document called: Murder Inc. The Book.
Det Gda Wallace confirmed that the last document was 62 pages long and appeared to be written by someone calling himself Jack the Rippa. She confirmed that it identified different ways of killing people and methods for picking a target.
She also found a document entitled Dyslexia and Reading.doc in a folder called Special Ed 2. The court had already heard that Ms O’Hara was studying to be a Montessori teacher.
She opened the document, which was headed: Reading and Dyslexia by Elaine O’Hara.
“It appears to be an essay or assignment of some description,” said the detective of the four-page paper.
She was able to tell that the total editing time was zero minutes and concluded from this that it had not originated in this folder.
She was also able to tell from the technical details accompanying the document that it was created and last modified on 29 November 2011. Showing up in this metadata under the heading, ‘Author and Last Modified’, was adwejchert.
She was asked what this meant.
“It would be the profile name of the person logged into the computer,” she replied.
The trial had already heard that Mr Dwyer was a director at the Dublin architecture firm, A&D Wejchert. The profile name, adwejchert, was one of the topics about which the defence later cross examined her.
The detective also searched the MacBook for internet activity and found a google search for a prostitute stabbed 48 times.
The computer had also been used to search for a Buck Special 119 knife in July, 2012. Other browser history at the same time involved the words: stabbing, death and mutilation.
Emails
Among the email communications on the laptop were emails to Ms O’Hara from the website, extremerestraints.com. These included responses to Ms O’Hara regarding passwords and also confirmations of orders.
“They appear to have been sexually-related paraphernalia,” she said of what was ordered.
Det Gda Wallace next examined Ms O’Hara’s blue HP laptop, where she found numerous images from Google Maps. She confirmed that these included maps of areas in the Dublin Mountains, including Killakee Woods, and the reservoir where ‘items of interest’ in the trial were found.
The detective also examined a computer that the trial heard she had given to another person some years earlier. Det Gda Wallace explained that Elaine O’Hara’s user profile had last used this Dell Inspiron in March 2010.
She could see that there had been log-on attempts to the website, alt.com, using the profiles, SubOrSlaveForYou and Submissive391.
She could also see other profiles viewed using Submissive391; one of these included Architect77, which had been viewed four times in 2007.
Another profile viewed on the site was Architect72 and she found evidence connecting this profile to the email address, fettishboy@gmail.com. She was then able to find traces of communication between Ms O’Hara and that email address.
An email from fettishboy@gmail.com to Ms O’Hara on 19 September 2008 was then read out.
“I hope you’re keeping ok,” it began. “I’ve assumed you are trying to get better and trying to stay away from what we do together. I completely understand.“I am always thinking of you and hoping you are safe and not suffering on the inside,” it continued. “Anytime you want, I will gladly carry out what I promised I would do, regardless of the consequences.“All you have to do is ring me from a call box and say where and when, even if it’s months or years away,” wrote the sender. “I am always waiting. Get in touch any time you want to for a chat or even for the simple, harmless things you want to do.“Take care x Sir.”
Det Gda Wallace also confirmed that she found a contact list containing the email addresses gdwyer@gmail.com and fettishboy@gmail.com among others.
In the search history on this computer she found the search string, ‘Graham Dwyer architect Wejchart’ and then ‘Wejchert’. She noted the difference in spelling.
Images in folders named Killing and Dead Files
Under cross examination by Remy Farrell SC, defending, she agreed that she had extracted a number of images from the MacBook that appeared to have come from a website called bestgore.com.
These were found in folders named, Killing, and Dead Files on the desktop. The detective agreed that it would appear that these pictures had been saved to the computer.
These included images entitled: Raped, Murdered Hindu Woman, Bangladesh; Chinese Man Stabs Girlfriend; Young Woman Stabbed, Throat Slit; Asian Woman Hung; Chinese Man Stabs Wife; Naked Woman Hanged, Railing, Mexico.
She agreed that the file names were related to the content of the pictures, which were shown on small screens in certain parts of the courtroom, but not on the large, public screens.
Mr Farrell then asked her about the essay on dyslexia and said that adwejchert being listed as the author clearly suggested that the document had emanated from A&D Wejchert. He asked if she understood the relevance of A&D Wejchert in the case.
“Yes,” she replied.
She confirmed that she was aware that an identical document had been found on one of Mr Dwyer’s computers.
He asked her how it might have got onto Ms O’Hara’s computer.
“It could have been from an email or a USB stick,” she said.
Mr Farrell will continue cross examining the witness next Wednesday, when the trial resumes before the jury of five women and seven men. Mr Justice Tony Hunt told the jury that it would continue in its absence on Monday and Tuesday.
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