Evidence into laptop use heard at murder trial of Kilkenny grandmother

A 22-year-old woman appeared to view Anime cartoons on her laptop and apply for a job in Primark on the night she is alleged to have disguised herself as her grandmother as a "ruse" to conceal her death, a trial has heard. 

The jury also watched CCTV footage of murder accused Kieran Greene purchasing items in various DIY stores in the days after retired hospital worker Patricia O'Connor's death. 

The trial has heard that gardai watched a total of 343 hours of footage covering the front and back of the deceased's Rathfarnham home, which was captured on a neighbour’s camera over a two-week period in 2017.

Father-of-three Mr Greene (34) has pleaded not guilty to murdering Patricia O'Connor (61) at her home in Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on May 29, 2017.

The deceased's daughter Louise O'Connor (41) and granddaughter Stephanie O'Connor (22), both of Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, Dublin 14, and Louise O'Connor's ex-partner Keith Johnston (43), of Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin 24 are all charged with impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene, knowing or believing him to have committed an arrestable offence, to wit the murder of Mrs O'Connor on May 29, 2017.

The trial has heard that the body of Mrs O’Connor was dismembered into 15 separate parts that were found at nine different locations over a 30km range in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between June 10 and 14, 2017. 

Former Depute State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, has given evidence that Mrs O'Connor's head was struck a minimum of three blows with a solid implement and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

It is the prosecution's case that at no point in time in CCTV footage can Stephanie O'Connor be seen as herself leaving Mountainview Park on the night of May 29 and that, in order to cover up the alleged murder, she dressed up as her grandmother as "a ruse" to pretend that Mrs O'Connor had stormed out of the house. 

Detective Garda Gary Collins told Garnet Orange SC, for Stephanie O'Connor, that a laptop computer was seized during a search of Mountainview on June 21, 2017. Mr Orange said the laptop belonged to Stephanie and the witness agreed that it had been widely used by a number of people in the house. 

Det Gda Collins said everything from the hard drive of the laptop was copied for him and he used this data to focus particularly on the night of May 29, 2017. Two email accounts were associated with the laptop, one from Stephanie O'Connor and the other belonged to another family member, he said.

The platforms frequently used on this laptop included Anime cartoons websites and YouTube, he said. Det Gda Collins agreed that the laptop "went quiet" on the evening of May 29 at 6.07pm and it was next used at 9.40pm that night. The witness agreed it had been "dormant" in between these times.

Det Gda Collins agreed with Mr Orange that the laptop was "revived" again at 10.10pm with YouTube and Anime cartoons being viewed. After 11.05pm, there was a search for job opportunities at Primark in Dundrum and Dropbox was signed into four minutes later, said Mr Orange.

The witness further agreed with Mr Orange that it would appear a CV was downloaded from a Dropbox account at 11.08pm and the person involved appeared to be Stephanie O'Connor. The CV was sent to Primark at 11.09pm. 

The trial has heard that a female, not identified to the jury, can be seen leaving the front of the house in CCTV footage at 9.34pm and walking quickly down the driveway with a suitcase in her hand.
  
Evidence has also been given that at 10.05pm, a female with a suitcase appears at the left-hand side of the house and goes in the back door. She closes the back door a minute later.

The trial continues.