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A 24-year-old man suffered six stab wounds in a Limerick pub, including two fatalities to the heart and jugular vein, according to a murder trial.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr. Margaret Bolster has testified in the Central Criminal Court trial of Mark Crawford (43), accused of murdering Patrick ‘Pa’ O’Connor in Limerick City more than two years ago.
The expert said that the cause of death of the deceased was hemorrhage or hemorrhagic shock due to stab wounds to the chest and neck.
Crawford, which has an address on Quarry Road, Thomondgate pleaded not guilty to O’Connor’s murder at Fitzgerald’s Bar, Sexton Street, in Limerick City between July 7-8, 2018.
Dr. Bolster told prosecutor John Fitzgerald SC that she performed an autopsy on Mr. O’Connor on July 9, 2018 and found six stab wounds to his body.
In her evidence, Dr. Bolster said the first stab was in the deceased’s jugular vein on the left side of his neck and was 10 cm deep. The witness said she found a second stab wound in the back of her neck with a depth of 6.5 cm.
The jury also heard that he was inflicted a third stab wound to the left side of the chest or chest. Dr Bolster said it was 2.1 cm long and extended through the fourth rib and right ventricle. The wound penetrated through the heart sac of the deceased and reached a depth of 10 centimeters, he added.
The fourth stab wound was located on the back of Mr. O’Connor’s upper left arm and was 3 cm wide, it said.
Another stab to the upper left arm was 2.2 cm wide. The sixth injury was on Mr. O’Connor’s left forearm and was 3.2 cm long, he concluded.
He said cocaine was also detected in the deceased’s blood.
In summary, Dr. Bolster said O’Connor suffered six stab wounds, including two fatalities to the right ventricle of the heart and the left jugular vein.
“The stab to his left forearm could be interpreted as an injury to the defense,” he said.
The witness said that the cause of death of Mr. O’Connor was hemorrhage or hemorrhagic shock due to stab wounds to the chest and neck.
Under cross-examination by Patrick McGrath SC, defender, Dr. Bolster agreed that the two fatal injuries were those to the heart and neck and the other injuries were less severe.
Furthermore, he agreed that the two fatal injuries matched the fact that both men were on their feet at the time.
On further examination, Mr. Fitzgerald asked the witness if the injuries were more consistent with both men standing due to the direction of the injuries. Dr. Bolster agreed that this was the case, but said she could not rule out whether both men had been sitting at the time.
Bartender Cyril O’Connor previously testified that he saw Mr. Crawford lean towards Mr. O’Connor and use his right hand to hit him while [Mr O’Connor] He sat in the chair and only later did he realize that the deceased had been stabbed.
During questioning, Mr. McGrath told the waiter that he was wrong about Mr. O’Connor sitting in the chair and suggested that both men had “faced each other” before Mr. Crawford stab the deceased several times as he had felt threatened.
The witness denied that this was the case saying: “It is a photograph in my head of the defendant holding Mr. O’Connor and beating him.”
In his opening speech to the jury on Monday, Fitzgerald said Crawford is charged with stabbing O’Connor to death in a Limerick bar after a dispute over the payment of cocaine.
The prosecution lawyer said that the defendant and the deceased had been using cocaine together that night and that O’Connor was aggrieved for having paid 100 euros for cocaine.
The lawyer said evidence will be given that the defendant admitted to stabbing the deceased Gardai, but said he had acted in self-defense out of fear of being attacked as he was not from that part of Limerick city.
The trial continues this afternoon before Judge Tara Burns and a jury of 11 men and one woman.
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