Stephanie O'Connor convicted of disguising herself as her dead grandmother

A Central Criminal Court jury has convicted a 22-year-old woman of disguising herself as her dead grandmother, who had been bludgeoned to death by her mother's partner, in order to conceal her murder. 

Father-of-three Kieran Greene (35) was found guilty, on Tuesday, of murdering retired hospital worker Patricia O'Connor (61) and inflicting "catastrophic injuries" on her in a sustained attack, which lasted up to 20 minutes and took place in the bathroom of her Rathfarnham home.

The deceased's granddaughter Stephanie O'Connor was found guilty on Wednesday of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Greene, knowing or believing him to have murdered Mrs O'Connor on May 29, 2017.

The jury accepted the State's case that, in order to cover up the murder, Stephanie O'Connor had dressed up as her grandmother as "a ruse" to pretend that Mrs O'Connor had stormed out of the house on the night. 

The jurors took eight hours and 36 minutes to come to their unanimous verdict. The forewoman of the jury confirmed to the registrar that they had not reached any further verdicts in relation to two remaining counts against Stephanie's parents Louise O'Connor (41) and Keith Johnston (43). 

Following today's verdict, Mr Justice Paul McDermott asked the jury of six men and five women to return to court tomorrow morning (Thurs) at 10.30am to resume their deliberations in respect of the two remaining counts. 

Stephanie O'Connor, of Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, Dublin 14 had pleaded not guilty to disguising herself as Mrs O'Connor at Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 at a point in time after her murder on May 29, 2017 in order to conceal the fact that she was already dead. 

She was 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 seven-week trial heard that the body of Mrs O’Connor, of Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 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, gave 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.

In her closing speech, prosecution counsel Roisin Lacey SC, with Gerardine Small BL, said that Stephanie had entered into "a charade" by disguising herself as her grandmother to create "an indelible record" on CCTV footage that the former hospital cleaner was actually "alive and well" and had walked out of the house at 9.34pm that night. 

This was done in case it was needed to bolster any statements to anyone who was legitimately looking for Mrs O'Connor or if she was reported as a missing person down the line, she said. 

Stephanie had firmly placed herself inside the house at 9.34pm that night but CCTV footage covering the rear of the property showed this to be a lie. On the footage, she can be seen in the back garden.

Evidence was given that a female could be seen leaving the front of the house in CCTV footage at 9.34pm on May 29 and walking quickly down the driveway with a suitcase in her hand. At 10.05pm that night, a female with a suitcase appeared at the left-hand side of the house and went in the back door. She closed the back door a minute later.

Ms Lacey said this female had walked in a “sprightly” manner which was very different to the deportment of Mrs O’Connor and the figure was wearing a hooded jacket for the purpose of disguising her hair and facial features.

At 10.05pm, the female with a coat over their arm and carrying a suitcase could be seen "scuttling along" the side passage and entering the rear door of the house, said Ms Lacey.  Patricia's son Richard O'Connor confirmed to the trial that this figure going in the rear of the house was his niece Stephanie. 

A black suitcase with a distinctive label was later found in Gus O’Connor’s bedroom on June 21 and the prosecution maintained that this was the same “prop” that Stephanie had been carrying on May 29.

It was the State's case that Stephanie's laptop was an "integral part" of the charade as it was dormant between 9pm and 10.10pm on the night, which "correlated exactly" with the period of time when they said Stephanie was out of the house disguised as her grandmother. 

In his closing speech, defence counsel Garnet Orange SC alongside George Burns BL for Stephanie said there was "no hard and direct evidence" that his client was away from the house during the relevant period of time and there was a frailty in the CCTV footage as it did not cover the front porch of the house. 

The jury will continue their deliberations tomorrow (Thurs) morning in relation to the two other accused, Louise O'Connor and Keith Johnston. 

Mother-of-five Louise O'Connor has pleaded not guilty to agreeing to or acquiescing in her daughter Stephanie O'Connor disguising herself as Mrs O'Connor at Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on May 29, 2017 in order to conceal the fact that Patricia O'Connor was dead. 

Keith Johnston has pleaded not guilty to assisting Mr Greene in the purchase of various implements at Woodie's, Mr Price, B&Q and Shoe Zone, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on June 9, 2017, which were to be deployed in the concealment of the remains of Mrs O'Connor. 

Louise O'Connor of Millmount Court, Dundrum Road, Dublin 14 and her ex-partner Keith Johnston, of Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin 24 are both 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.

Murderer Kieran Greene had given two accounts of Mrs O'Connor's death. In an interview with gardai in June 2017, Greene said he was in the bathroom when Mrs O’Connor attacked him with a hurley. He maintained that he had disarmed Mrs O'Connor and acted in self-defence by hitting her with a hurley and as a result of that she may have died. He claimed he was the only one involved in the physical altercation and had acted alone in removing her body from the house, burying her in a shallow grave in Co Wexford and subsequently dismembering her.

The trial heard that six months after he was charged with her murder, Greene changed his account of killing and dismembering his partner's mother. While on remand in Cloverhill Prison in December 2017, Greene told gardai that he had taken “the rap” and felt he was being set-up, as his girlfriend Louise O'Connor subsequently started going back out with her ex-boyfriend Keith Johnston. 

Greene claimed he was not responsible for Mrs O'Connor's death and that her husband Augustine 'Gus' O'Connor had killed her with a crowbar. He maintained that his step-daughter Stephanie pretended to dress up as her grandmother to make it look like Mrs O’Connor had gone missing. 

Greene also asserted that Keith Johnston “made a plan” and they had both purchased various tools in DIY stores on June 9. He said they drove to Wexford that night, where Johnston spent three to four hours dismembering Mrs O'Connor's body parts beside a shallow grave. He said Johnston then directed him up the Wicklow mountains, where they both disposed of her body parts.