A man who stabbed his parents and younger brother to death at the family home in Drumgowna, Co Louth, accepts he caused their deaths but denies murder, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
Robert O’Connor (31) pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility in respect of the murders of his mother, Louise O’Connor, 56, his father, Mark O’Connor, 54, and his younger brother, Evan O’Connor, 27, between the 28th and 29th of September 2025.
Opening the case, prosecuting counsel, Roisín Lacey SC, told the jury they were dealing with three murders because there were three victims. She said murder is the unlawful killing of one human being by another with intent to kill or cause serious injury, and that the jury must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt on both elements. The accused accepts he caused the deaths, she said, meaning that the central issue they must decide upon is his intent.
Ms Lacey opened the prosecution evidence by detailing the circumstances which led to the discovery of the three bodies on the morning of the 29th of September.
The court heard that a carer from Praxis Care who came to collect Evan O’Connor – who had “severe autism” – was surprised when he didn’t come and get into her car, which was part of a routine where she would reverse into the front driveway and he would come and throw his bag in the back.
The court heard that when the witness got to the home, she noticed something near the gate that she thought was a Halloween decoration, which on closer inspection she discovered was the heavily blood-stained body of Mark O’Connor.
She then noticed the body of Evan O’Connor, who was clothed only in shorts, lying on the patio steps with blood on his legs. At this stage, the witness drove her car to the home of neighbours living behind the O’Connor home and dialled 999.
Gardaí, the Armed Support Unit and an ambulance crew were dispatched to the scene where Mark O’Connor’s body was found beside an orange kitchen knife, a butter knife and a beer bottle. Louise O’Connor was found on the kitchen floor, heavily blood-stained. A doctor pronounced all three dead; however, the exact times of death are unclear.
Neighbours gave statements about the previous evening. One occupant of the house behind the O’Connor home said he recognised the accused’s voice shouting for most of the evening between 6.30 pm and 7 pm, including the words “I’ll end you, I’ll fucking end you”. He heard no other voice. The accused later came to his gate, appearing “agitated”, and apologised for the noise the night before.
Another neighbour heard shouting and cursing between 9 pm and 10 pm. This man described a “strange noise like a hoarse animal” from a male voice, and said he saw a male figure jumping up and down in the middle of the back garden between 8.30 pm and 9 pm. His wife sent Louise O’Connor a Facebook message to check everything was all right but got no reply.
Motion-sensor CCTV from two neighbouring houses captured a figure the accused accepts was him, the court heard.
A woman living nearby said she saw a shadow pass the window at her house on Monday morning. She then saw the accused, who said he didn’t want to frighten her and gave his name as Robert from down the road. She said he told her: “I can’t put it into words; it’s all muddled in my head. They tortured me for years, my family. He manipulated me for years.” He asked to “charge”, but she refused to let him into the house, the court heard.
When sirens sounded, the woman asked if they were for him, to which he replied, “Yes, I killed them.” She said he was “level-headed” and not aggressive, and that she told him to “keep walking”, Ms Lacey told the jury.
Gardaí who had been dispatched to the scene from a separate unit found the accused walking towards Tallanstown in the townland of Philipstown. Garda Nixon and Garda O’Malley said that when they encountered the accused, he was “highly aggressive and agitated, shouting “I’m looking for ye” and “shoot me, shoot me”, and refused to show his hands before getting on the ground.
When he did put his hands behind his back on the ground, they could see that they were bloodstained, Ms Lacey said.
He was blood-stained. He was arrested on suspicion of murder and cautioned. The court heard he immediately said he had killed his family.
Gardaí gave evidence of remarks he made on arrest, including that he had a row with his father over drugs, that he “only meant to kill” his father and brother, not his mother, and that he “lost his head”. He told a Garda Sergeant Gill he was sorry for killing his mother but “not sorry” for his father or brother.
In three interviews on 29 September, the accused said he had taken “cocaine” and that his parents wanted to speak to him about his drug use because they were “not happy”. He said he went downstairs for a knife after watching pornography and taking cocaine and was angry at his mother’s lack of “empathy”. He said his father stepped in during an argument about him and his brother.
The accused said he was upset because drugs he had bought were just “salt”; Ms Lacey told the jury the drugs were “wild cat” or “mephadrone”.
He told gardaí he believed he had been given “MK Ultra” by his parents, that the algorithm on his brother’s iPad was “affecting my reality”, and that he thought drugs he had taken earlier may have affected him.
He said that his mother had wanted to “go to the toilet”, but he had seen the “reflection” of his father in her eyes and “slashed” her.
He said his mother had “looked at me like Tommy from Love/Hate when he didn’t let the girl go.”
The court heard that the accused made the three victims stay with their heads down.
He spoke of an evil spirit, said he was keeping “entities” from getting into the house, and that he carried the bodies out to see “who got to heaven”. He said his mother and Evan went to heaven “holding hands”. He said he did not realise until later that he had done something wrong. A knife was found on a clothes horse in a log cabin used by Mark O’Connor as an office.
Mark O’Connor (54)
Mr O’Connor had 44 stab wounds. Nine were to the head and neck, including one that passed through the right eyebrow and into the eye cavity. Three wounds were to the front of the right arm. There were five wounds to one leg and one to the other. The largest group, 25 wounds, was to the back of the body, the neck and the trunk.
Wounds to the lower lobes of both lungs caused them to collapse. The State pathologist said the cause of death was blood loss and respiratory problems.
She said severe force was used in two of the wounds, one to the shoulder blade and one to the lumbar region of the back, because severe force is needed to penetrate bone.
Louise O’Connor
Mrs O’Connor sustained 20 stab wounds. Two were to the head and neck, including a stab wound on her forehead. Eight were to the front of the trunk, including one to the upper lobe of the left lung and one through the left lobe of the liver to a depth of 18cm. A further wound passed through the armpit, also to a depth of 18cm. Eight wounds were to the back of the body and trunk.
The pathologist found a fracture of the shoulder bone that had damaged a rib. She also described an incised wound behind the ear that exposed the skull. Both lungs had collapsed. She described the force used as “severe”.
Evan O’Connor
Evan O’Connor had 75 wounds, at least 70 of which were stab wounds. Twenty-five were to the head and neck, and one of these penetrated the skull. Five were to the front of the body.
There were ten wounds to the right arm, some of them “through and through” wounds. The left arm had 19 stab wounds, five of them through and through. There were four wounds to the right leg and eleven to the left, and one to a knee. The pathologist described many of the injuries to his arms and legs as defence injuries. She also recorded 26 incised wounds, bruises and abrasions. Both lungs had partially collapsed.
The pathologist concluded that Evan was alive when the vast majority of the wounds were inflicted. She gave the cause of death as hypovolaemia, or loss of blood volume.
The trial continues tomorrow.