Derry murder trial hears scientific evidence
A sock containing the saliva and blood of the alleged victim in a murder trial might have been in her mouth, a forensic scientist told the Central Criminal Court today.
Bronagh Tumelty was giving evidence in the trial of a Derry man on trial for the murder of the mother of his unborn son.
Father-of-one Stephen Cahoon (aged 37) of Harvey Street, Derry has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Jean Teresa Quigley. However, he admits killing the 30-year-old mother-of-four at her home at Cornshell Fields, Shantallow, Derry on July 26, 2008.
“The distribution of likely saliva and blood would suggest that this sock was in contact with or within Ms Quigley’s mouth,” said Ms Tumelty, adding that elements of Stephen Cahoon’s DNA were also present on the sock.
The court heard on Tuesday that any blood found came from inside the victim’s nose and mouth, a result of blood vessels bursting during strangulation.
When asked by Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, if it was possible that the sock had been used to wipe Ms Quigley’s mouth, rather than having been inside it, she said this would not explain why some areas had only saliva and other areas had a mixture of blood and saliva.
He asked her if it was possible to prefer one explanation over the other, telling her that earlier in the day she said it was not.
“That’s correct,” she said.
Mr O’Higgins then asked her if she was aware that asphyxiation was something some couples use during intercourse.
“For some couples, it heightens enjoyment,” he said.
Ms Tumelty said she had heard of it.
Another forensic scientist said there was strong scientific support for the assertion that Cahoon was the father of Ms Quigley’s unborn child. Mathew James Greenhalgh had carried out DNA testing on the 10-week-old fetus.
The jury also saw a print-out of more than 100 text messages sent between Cahoon and Ms Quigley days before she died.
Police analyst Lisa Mc Clintock had collated the material, which showed almost constant texting between the two over the course of a day and a half.
The first messages sent on the evening of Wednesday July 23 were amicable and concerned them meeting later, what time Ms Quigley would be out and how much money she needed.
The abbreviation, LOL, was used several times. Ms Mc Clintock confirmed that this stood for ‘Laugh out Loud’.
However the tone of the messages changed in the early hours of Thursday, when they discussed a fight they had earlier in the night. Ms Quigley threatened to turn her phone off and she did divert it.
Last week, a babysitter gave evidence that Cahoon arrived to Ms Quigley’s house in the early hours of that Thursday and that both the defendant and Ms Quigley argued.
The texts continued after Cahoon left, with Ms Quigley pleading with him to let her sleep as she was pregnant.
“F*** off out of my life for good please,” she wrote shortly before 6am. She told him they would never be friends.
“Bad that I can’t stay in my own house because of the way you go on,” she wrote.
The messages ceased for a few hours before resuming again at noon, with Ms Quigley asking the accused to come and collect his dogs.
At one stage, Mr Cahoon took offence to her calling him a nutter.
“I might be nuts, nuts about you,” he wrote. “I’m sure there’s hell of a lot worse than me out there.”
The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of seven women and five men.
