A fisherman who entered a teenage boy's home in the early hours of the morning sustained a single stab wound to the front of the chest which penetrated his heart, a murder trial has heard.
The jury also heard from retired Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis that the level of force involved in the stab wound was moderate. The witness agreed with defence counsel that, had the 25-year-old deceased been moving forward at the time, this would have contributed to the level of force.
The jury has already listened to a 999 recording of then-teenager Dean Kerrie telling a dispatcher "I'm actually so in fear of my life right now" after he said he stabbed Jack Power "by accident" and that the man had come "in the front door at him" and tried to hit him.
"I did it but I didn't mean to though," Dean Kerrie, who is now 20, told the emergency services. "My life is going to be gone over him coming in here," he also said.
Mr Kerrie with an address at St Brigid's Square, Portarlington in Co Laois has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jack Power (25) at Shanakiel, Dunmore East, Co Waterford on July 26th, 2018.
Evidence
Giving evidence on Thursday, retired Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told prosecution counsel Michael Delaney SC that he conducted a postmortem on the remains of Mr Power at 1.55pm on July 26th.
The witness said that Mr Power was single, lived with his parents and had worked as a fisherman on his father's boat. He was 6 feet 4.5 inches and of muscular athletic build.
The expert witness testified that there were two small abrasions on the left side of Mr Power's forehead, which was from trivial but non-specific blunt force trauma.
There was also evidence of a laceration within a large area of abrasion on his forehead and an abrasion to the upper cheek as well as the left temporal region of the head.
There was a "cluster of abrasions" to the back of the deceased's right hand between his knuckles and middle index finger. "I thought it might have been caused by broken glass," said Dr Curtis.
There were two continuous areas of abrasion over Mr Powers' right knee, which the witness said could have occurred from "a terminal collapse as he sank to his knees".
His skull was healthy and there was no evidence of a head injury. There was no evidence of any defensive type injuries on the body.
Stab wound
In his evidence, Dr Curtis said that Mr Power had a stab wound to the left side of his front chest and was vertically oriented. The length of the wound extended to 4.5 centimetres when the skin was brought together.
The track of the wound continued backwards and slightly upwards and had sliced through the costal cartilages between the fourth and fifth ribs but not the bone. "The wound went through the lowermost and foremost part of the right lung and penetrated the right side of the heart," said the witness.
The depth of the wound was 13 centimetres. "That is the appropriate measurement, maybe that is a slight overestimate of the track depth," he added. There was a collection of blood in the chest cavity and both lungs had collapsed.
A toxicology report detected alcohol and cocaine in his system and Mr Power was over three times the legal level of driving, Dr Curtis said.
Dr Curtis pointed out that death might not have been immediate and he may have been able to move and function for several minutes after the wound was inflicted.
The witness said Mr Power's cause of death was a single stab wound to the anterior chest.
Collapse
Under cross-examination, Dr Curtis told defence counsel Ciaran O'Loughlin SC that the deceased was "certainly a very big man" and some of his injuries could have come from collapsing on the ground. "I couldn't say with certainty if any wounds were caused by being physically attacked by someone," said the witness.
When asked about the level of force used, Dr Curtis said it was moderate. He said that if Mr Power had been coming forward at the time, this would have contributed to the level of force.
Mr O'Loughlin asked the witness if the level of the deceased's intoxication would have led to unsteadiness and a lack of coordination. "It may well do," replied Dr Curtis.
He agreed that the "main bleeding" had happened internally in the deceased's body and into the chest cavity.
Garda John Kiely, who was the member in charge at Waterford Garda station, said Mr Kerrie told him that he had a "little cut" on his right leg, when asked if he was injured.
Detective Kevin Nolan told the accused's barrister that photographs were taken of Mr Kerrie and there was no indication from his hands that he had been involved in a fight.
Forensics
Forensic scientist Dr Stephen Clifford said that a swab taken from the edge of a blood-stained knife matched Mr Power's DNA. The court heard today that this black-handled knife was found behind the kitchen sink.
Dr Clifford testified that DNA matching that of Mr Kerrie's mother, Ann Fitzgerald, was obtained from a wooden leg of a broken chair. Under cross-examination, Dr Clifford agreed with Mr O'Loughlin that the leg of the chair must have come in contact with Ms Fitzgerald's blood.
Evidence has been given that the wooden leg belonging to the broken chair was found in the attic and the chair itself was located in the hallway of the house. Four areas on the leg of the chair had "blood smears" on it.
During Mr Kerrie's 999 call, he told the dispatcher that his mother was "up in the attic" as he did not know where else to put her.
Opening the prosecution’s case last week, Mr Delaney said the jury may have to consider the issue of self defence in the trial.
The prosecution has completed its evidence in the trial, which continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of eight men and four women.
