A jury will hear evidence that infers a now 74-year-old man had sex with and murdered a vulnerable woman whose "naked and bruised body" was found by forestry workers dumped in dense undergrowth in Cork 42 years ago, a prosecution barrister has told a murder trial.
The 12 jurors were also told by the State on Thursday that this provides an explanation for the semen retrieved from the victim, which matches the accused man Noel Long's DNA.
Senior counsel Brendan Grehan, prosecuting, also told the jury that other evidence in the case, including that retrieved from Mr Long's car, along with and other circumstances, should ultimately lead them to the "irresistible conclusion" that the accused man is responsible for Nora Sheehan's death, which the State contends was murder.
Mr Long, with an address at Maulbawn, Passage West, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 54-year-old Nora Sheehan between June 6th and 12th, 1981 at an unknown place within the State.
Her body was found by forestry workers at The Viewing Point, Shippool Woods in Cork six days after she went missing.
Opening the prosecution’s case on Thursday, Brendan Grehan SC said this is a case of "some antiquity" involving a murder over 42 years ago.
Mr Grehan said because it is such an old case it does have consequences and not all witnesses would be available.
"That is part of the consequences of time; people die, sometimes they die young and sometimes they die of old age. Because this is so long ago, quite a number of people you might expect to hear from in the case are not available for one reason or another," he explained.
He added that a lot of the physical exhibits that might have been available 42 years ago are not going to feature in the case as some have become unavailable over time, some have been lost, some destroyed and one does not know what happened to others.
On the plus side, the lawyer said, the evidence that the jury will hear is relatively short and mostly in the nature of technical and forensic evidence. However, Mr Grehan said many of the witnesses are of quite advanced years; some are in the region of or close to their 90s.
Cold case
The prosecution barrister went on to tell the court that the case itself is what the jury might have heard described in a generic sense or in popular culture as "a cold case". He said that is an unsolved murder that is revisited by investigators years after the event.
Outlining the facts of the case, Mr Grehan said Ms Sheehan lived in Ballyphehane in Cork city with her husband James, who was somewhat older than her and who died in 1985.
The couple had three sons, James Junior, Jeremiah and Hugh; all of whom are still alive and two of whom were present in court on Thursday, he said. The barrister said one of the deceased's sons would give evidence in the case.
Ms Sheehan had previously worked in a hospital, had suffered some sort of fall there and some sort of ill health "whether arising from that or otherwise". He said the jury would hear from various witnesses that knew or had seen Ms Sheehan around the time of her death.
The barrister said Ms Sheehan had developed "some eccentricities" and had some obsessions about a nearby hospital. As a result of that, she was often seen out on the roads near her home and on public streets attempting to wave down cars and talking to people about the goings-on at the hospital, which she was concerned about.
"She would be described in modern parlance as a vulnerable person," he added.
Detailing the evidence that will be heard, Mr Grehan said two dogs had got into a fight near Ms Sheehan's home on Saturday, June 6th, 1981, and she suffered a dog bite to her left arm in the course of seeking to separate the animals. Ms Sheehan was treated for the bite at the South Infirmary Hospital in Cork.
There will be evidence, Mr Grehan said, from a nurse who treated her in the hospital at around 9pm and that Ms Sheehan had left before 10pm that night.
Ms Sheehan was seen by a doctor, had a bandage applied to the wound on her arm and was given a tetanus shot. She was seen by people before and after she went to the hospital "in particular behaving somewhat oddly and waving down cars", he said.
Missing
Counsel said there will be evidence from witnesses that saw Ms Sheehan between midnight on June 6th until as late as 4am on June 7th, but that she was not seen alive after that point.
She was reported missing to Togher Garda Station by her husband and her son James and was a missing person until June 12th, 1981.
The court will also hear evidence, the lawyer said, that Garda John B O'Sullivan was stationed at Inishannon Garda Station in Co Cork, about 26km away from where Ms Sheehan was last seen, when at 3pm on June 12th, 1981, he was visited by two forestry workers who are now deceased.
The two men reported to Gda O'Sullivan that they found what looked like a body while working at Shippool Woods, some two miles away from Inishannon and were clearly upset by what they had discovered.
Mr Grehan said Gda O'Sullivan made his way to the scene with the two workers, climbed down a very steep overgrown slope on the road and in the midst of briars and other overgrowth he observed what eventually he was able to decide was a female body, which was naked, apart from nylon tights or stockings on one foot.
The remaining clothing was pulled up and obscured her face and there was a bandage of her left arm.
Counsel said it was very apparent from the condition of the body that it had been there for some time, and it was subsequently identified as being Ms Sheehan, who had been missing for the previous six days.
An extensive garda murder investigation began and the jury will hear from witnesses from the Garda Technical Bureau who collected evidence from the scene, including clothing from Ms Sheehan's body, he said.
Post-mortem
Pathologist Dr Robert Dermot Coakley attended at the scene and on his direction Ms Sheehan's body was removed to the city morgue in Cork, where he conducted a post-mortem examination.
He noted various injuries to the deceased's body, including bruising to the anterior or the front of Ms Sheehan's vagina. Unfortunately, Dr Coakley died on August 5th, 1981, seven weeks after conducting the post-mortem, counsel said.
Through an Act established in 1992, Mr Grehan said the jury will hear a record of the pathologist's findings of the examination on Ms Sheehan's body.
He said the prosecution cannot say precisely how Ms Sheehan died, but what the State do say is that Ms Sheehan met her death by means of foul play.
"And that much is apparent from the fruits of the examination of Dr Coakley combined with the circumstances of the findings of her naked and bruised body dumped a distance from the roadside in dense undergrowth where it just happened to be found by two forestry workers working in the area, a long way away from where she was last seen alive," he said.
Four days later on June 16th, 1981, Mr Grehan said Detective Inspector Matt Thorn who was stationed in Cork city stopped Mr Long driving an Opel Kadett car on the Curraheen Road in Cork.
At the time, Mr Long was 32, some 20 plus years younger than Ms Sheehan, and living at Riverbank on the Curraheen Road in Bishopstown in Cork.
"That is on the same side, if not particularly close to where Ms Sheehan lived and was last seen alive," he said.
Samples
Counsel said Mr Long's car was technically examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau and in particular Detective Colm Dardis, who took samples and various lifts from the carpet fibres inside the car and from the boot.
These samples were transported to the forensic science laboratory in Dublin and the jury will hear certain trace evidence, by way of paint and fibres from the car, were analysed there, including items from the scene where Ms Sheehan was found.
He also indicated to the jury that they would hear about trace evidence, where one item will transfer to another item.
The barrister further stated that Dr Coakley had also taken various standard samples from Ms Sheehan's body, including matter from her vagina, which showed the presence of sperm.
He also took a sample of her blood and these samples were given to Dr Tim Creedon from the forensic science laboratory in the Phoenix Park, who confirmed the presence of semen from the swab taken from the deceased's vagina.
Dr Creedon preserved what was on the vaginal swab by placing it on a piece of glass. This was protected by another piece of glass put on top to create a sandwich effect to stop anything getting out or in, he said. The piece of glass was labelled, archived and placed in storage at the forensic science laboratory for many years.
In relation to this action by Dr Creedon, Mr Grehan said it turned out to be of great significance because in 2008 a serious crime review team in An Garda Síochána was set up and tasked with reviewing old unsolved cases, particularly murders, often termed "cold cases".
He said Ms Sheehan's murder case came under its purview and as part of the review, the original investigation concerning the glass slide taken from the body of Ms Sheehan was looked at again "with an eye to modern scientific developments" and in particular the science of DNA.
Mr Grehan said it was decided in 2008 that the preserved sample of the glass slide that Dr Creedon had put away many years earlier would be sent to a specialist UK lab, which had the services to use new methodology which was still in infancy at the time.
The court heard further evidence will be that Dr Whitaker developed a DNA profile from semen recovered from Ms Sheehan's vagina.
Subsequently, counsel said, a material was obtained by gardaí from Mr Long on November 13th, 2021, which was analysed in the forensic science lab.
"Results from their analysis were sent to Dr Whitaker and he will say it matched the semen recovered from Ms Sheehan's vagina.
"Using the calculation tools, the possibility that it originated from someone other than Mr Long is one in 20,000 provided they are unrelated to him," the barrister said, adding that the jury have to look at all the evidence and not just the DNA.
The trial continues on Thursday afternoon before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of eight men and four women. It is expected to last four weeks.
