Jury in triple murder trial shown Garda interviews after asking to see accused’s ‘demeanour’

The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering three members of his family in Co Louth has been shown videos of his Garda interviews after asking to see the accused’s “demeanour” in the aftermath of the killings. Robert O’Connor (32), of Drumgowna, Louth Village, Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility, of his mother Louise (56), father Mark (54) and brother Evan (27) at the family home between September 28th and 29th, 2025.The Central Criminal Court jury has been told the accused accepts he caused the deaths of the three victims, who had sustained a combined 139 stab wounds.Two consultant psychiatrists, who have given evidence in the trial, agree that O’Connor was suffering from a relapse of schizophrenia when he fatally stabbed his parents and brother. READ MOREThe expert witnesses were of the view that guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility under section 6 of the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006 would be an appropriate verdict, but differ on whether the accused qualifies for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Dr Fiona Toal, a consultant forensic psychiatrist called to give evidence by the defence, testified last week that O’Connor did not know that what he was doing was wrong and could not refrain from committing the act. She believed the accused met the criteria for the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Ronan Mullaney, called by the prosecution, told the trial the accused met the criteria for a verdict of guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility, but does not meet the criteria for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury has been told by the prosecution that the “battleground” between it and the defence was whether O’Connor was insane at the time. A note handed to Judge Mícheál P O’Higgins by the jury foreman last Thursday asked “is there any particular reason we cannot see the videos of the interviews of the defendant, as we would like to see his demeanour that Monday morning”. Addressing the panel on Tuesday, the judge said the videos would be provided to the jurors and appropriate clips from the interviews would be played in due course. The jury of six men and six women spent Wednesday watching seven “segments” from the accused’s three interviews at Drogheda Garda station on September 29th and 30th, 2025. These segments lasted one hour and five minutes. The panel had previously heard the entirety of the interviews where the accused described to officers how his mother had asked him to let go his younger brother, who had special needs, as he held them at knifepoint. He told gardaí in the interviews that after stabbing his brother, he tried to walk him out of their home, before Evan collapsed beside his mother and held her hand.O’Connor further told detectives he had “dragged” his parents and brother into the garden after stabbing them, but only realised he had done something “terrible” hours later.In his evidence on Tuesday, Mullaney said there were a number of very “specific accords” between him and Toal. These were that O’Connor was suffering from a relapse of schizophrenia, that this coincided with a four-to-five week period of noncompliance with medication as well as intoxication, and that he was aware of the nature and quality of the act.Mullaney said the accused had not suffered a complete loss of appreciation that his actions were wrong. He agreed with the prosecutor that the accused’s ability to regulate his conduct was substantially impaired but did not go as far as him being unable to refrain.