The judge in Patrick Quirke’s murder trial has begun delivering her final directions to the jurors before they’re asked to begin their deliberations.
The 50-year-old farmer from Breanshamore, Co. Tipperary denies murdering local DJ Bobby Ryan sometime between June 3rd 2011 and April 30th 2013.
It is the prosecution’s case that Patrick Quirke murdered Bobby ‘Mr. Moonlight’ Ryan in an attempt to get back with his former lover Mary Lowry, who was going out with Bobby when he went missing in June 2011.
Mr. Quirke was the one who found the local DJ’s remains almost two years later in what the prosecution claim was a “staged discovery”.
All of the evidence is circumstantial, but the prosecution claims clearly communicates “motive and opportunity”
The defence described this as a “case based on theory” with no hard evidence.
Ms J Eileen Creedon began the first part of her charge today.
She asked the jurors to look at the evidence with a critical mind and not to just accept what they hear. She said they should analyse it and weigh one piece of evidence against another.
Once she’s finished outlining the legal principles, she’ll then remind them of the relevant evidence in the case.
