A woman on trial for fatally stabbing her 94-year-old father in the stomach on his birthday told gardaí that she heard God say that he was not her "daddy" but an intruder and to stab him in the heart three times.
Earlier, a prosecution barrister told the 12 jurors that murder accused Julie Flood was in the throes of a psychotic state when she fatally stabbed her father in their Wexford home.
It was during the opening of her trial at the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday that Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, said the experts in the case agreed that the accused fell within the legal definition of someone who was insane at the time.
Michael Delaney SC, defending Ms Flood, made three formal admissions to the court today on behalf of his client.
These included that the accused had stabbed her father with a kitchen knife at their home in the early hours of the morning on April 12th, 2019, that the single stab wound inflicted by the act caused the death of Patrick Flood two days later and that the accused was properly arrested and detained by gardaí.
A driver told the jury that the accused woman was in a state of distress when she flagged him down in her pyjamas on the side of the road that morning and told him: "I'm after stabbing my daddy".
Julie Flood (51) with an address listed as The Oyle, Oylegate, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, is accused of the murder of her father, Patrick (94), at their home address at The Oyle on April 14th, 2019. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Opening the prosecution’s case on Tuesday, Mr Costelloe told the 12 jurors that this was somewhat an unusual case and that much of what will be put forward in evidence is agreed between the parties.
Counsel told the jury that the allegation against Ms Flood is that she stabbed her father, and he died from the stab wound. Mr Costelloe said there will be no issue about Mr Flood's cause of death and that the issue will be whether the accused was insane at the time she stabbed her father in the stomach.
Expert evidence
There will be expert evidence from both the State and the defence, Mr Costelloe said, and it is quite likely that the jury will be presented with a unified approach from them. "It is quite likely you won't hear contrary evidence but a unified version. They agree on her state of mind, her mental condition at the time she stabbed her father," he added.
The issue in the case, the prosecution barrister said, would be whether Ms Flood was sane or insane when she stabbed her father. "It seems to be the case that the experts agree that at the time Ms Flood stabbed her father she fell within the legal definition of someone who was insane," he added.
Outlining the facts of the case, Mr Costelloe said on April 12th, 2019 it was Patrick Flood's birthday, and he had turned 94. He lived in Oylegate at the time with his then 48-year-old daughter Julie.
Counsel said the State alleges that Ms Flood was in the throes of a psychotic or mental state where she thought God was instructing her that the person she was seeing in her house "was not her dad" but someone who took his form, and she was to stab him. Ms Flood stabbed her father, left the house and went to the side of the road where she flagged down a male driver.
The court heard further evidence will be that the man went to Ms Flood's house and found Patrick Flood bleeding profusely from the wound to his abdomen. Mr Flood was conscious at the time and able to engage with gardaí.
The court will also hear evidence, the lawyer said, that Mr Flood was brought to the local hospital where a decision was made "in fairly short order" that he required surgery. It appeared at first blush that Mr Flood might pull through, but he passed away two days later on April 14th.
The barrister further stated that it will be read into the record that the conclusion of the Assistant State Pathologist who performed the autopsy was that Mr Flood died from the stab wound and very serious heart disease.
In relation to the evidence against the accused, Mr Costelloe said Ms Flood was in a heightened state when she was arrested, detained and questioned by gardai.
Mr Costelloe said the accused was clearly still suffering emotionally and was distraught by what she had done and had told gardai she thought she was directed by the voice of god to stab her father.
Alan Somers gave evidence that he was driving to work on a by road leading onto the main Wexford Enniscorthy Road at 7.15am on the morning of April 12th when he saw a woman trying to flag people down. He said the woman was physically big and was wearing pyjamas at the side of the road. The witness agreed that it was immediately apparent to him that the woman was in a state of distress.
Mr Somers said he pulled in and asked the woman what was wrong. He said the woman was hysterical and was able to say "I'm after stabbing my daddy".
The witness ran up to the woman's house and saw an elderly man wearing chequered pyjamas who was covered in blood and in some distress standing by the porch entrance. Mr Somers said the man was standing with his hands by his side and said "she is after stabbing me", referring to the accused Julie Flood.
Mr Somers called 999 and said the accused remained outside the house and continued to appear to be in a great degree of distress.
Whilst there, the witness said he observed Ms Flood saying "I'm sorry daddy" over and over. He agreed with Mr Costelloe that the accused appeared to be very agitated and extremely distressed.
An ambulance arrived and assistance was provided to Mr Flood. Mr Somers got a sheet to put over the significant amount of blood on the floor inside the hall door.
He agreed that Ms Flood was in such a heightened and agitated state that one of her neighbour's got her dog, so the accused could pat him to calm her down. Ms Flood was put into the back of the garda patrol car.
Mr Somers said he asked Mr Flood on several occasions to sit down, but he was quite distressed and repeatedly stood up.
Post-mortem
Mr Costelloe read a statement from Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster who had conducted a postmortem on Mr Flood. In her evidence, Dr Bolster said the deceased had an open wound to his upper left abdomen and that the knife had penetrated through skin and muscle. The stab wound was 3.5cm in length and there were no defence injuries identified to his hands or forearms.
The pathologist said Mr Flood was suffering from severe heart disease which he could have died from at any time but in this case there was evidence of a recent stab wound to his abdomen. She said the cause of death was congested cardiac failure complicated by ischemic colitis on the background of a recent stab wound.
Garda Deirdre Coleman said she arrived at the scene at 7.20am on April 12th and an elderly man was seated on a seat in the hallway with a lot of blood to the left side of his chest. She observed a knife on the ground.
The witness said that when Mr Flood was leaving in the ambulance his daughter said: "I stabbed me daddy. I'm sorry daddy. Oh help me Lord Jesus".
Garda Coleman said she thought Ms Flood was suffering from some sort of mental disorder and detained her under section 12 of the Mental Health Act. She said Ms Flood's manner of speech was quite child-like and high-pitched.
She brought the accused to Enniscorthy Garda Station, but it became apparent she couldn't be detained. She was then assessed at Waterford University Hospital which has a psychiatric unit and a decision was made to involuntarily detain her.
Detective Garda Darren Coleman said when the accused was fit to be questioned on April 23rd she told gardai she was in her bedroom that morning and couldn't sleep.
"I heard god say he's not your daddy, stab him in the heart three times, stab him, stab him, stab him," said Ms Flood.
The accused asked "why do you want me to stab him" and the voice said "he's not your dad" so she stabbed him and called an ambulance.
Ms Flood said she did not know why she did it but that she must be mentally ill and that she has had a mental illness since she was 13 years old. She said God had told her that it wasn't her father but an intruder. She said she got the knife in the kitchen.
Mr Flood told Dr Paul Cromwell before he died that he had woken up at 7am that morning and found his daughter standing in the hall screaming at him that he was an imposter. He said the accused had come up to him and stabbed him in the stomach.
The State concluded its case today and the trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six men and six women, when it is expected that expert evidence will be called.
