Carer at scene of Louth triple killing mistook body "drenched in blood" for Halloween decoration, court heard

A carer has told the trial of a man accused of murdering three members of his family at their Co Louth home of the moment she mistook a body lying in the front garden and "drenched in blood" for a Halloween decoration.

Another witness also told the Central Criminal Court today that when she asked the accused man whether the sirens they could hear were for him, Robert O'Connor had replied: "Yes, I killed them."

When re-arraigned before the Central Criminal Court last week, Robert O'Connor (32), of Drumgowna, Louth Village, Dundalk, Co Louth, pleaded not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility to the triple murder of his mother Louise O'Connor (56), his father Mark O'Connor (54) and his younger brother Evan O'Connor (27) at their home in Drumgowna between September 28 and 29 2025, both dates inclusive.

In her opening address, Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, said the accused had episodes of psychosis from a young age and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2018.

The barrister said the "battleground" between the prosecution and defence in the trial was whether the accused qualifies for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

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The panel have also been told that the accused accepts he caused the death of the three victims, who had sustained a combined 139 stab wounds.

Giving evidence to the trial today, special needs support worker Loreto Durrigan told Ms Lacey that she works for an organisation called 'Praxis Care', which provides support for people with special needs.

Ms Durrigan said she had a habit of reversing into the driveway of Drumgowna so it was easy for Evan O'Connor - who had severe autism and an intellectual disability - to put his bag into the boot of her car, which she explained was part of his routine.

When she arrived at Drumgowna at 9.32am on September 28, Ms Durrigan said she reversed in and thought she saw a Halloween decoration inside the gates.

The witness thought this was "very unusual", as Louise O'Connor wouldn't usually decorate the house for Halloween.

The witness said she remained in the car for about two minutes but didn't see Evan or hear anything.

Ms Durrigan said that when she got out of the car and walked towards the gates, she saw a body drenched in blood from head to toe.

"At the time I didn't realise it was a body, I had to look twice," she added.

The witness said that when she looked past the two cars parked in the driveway, she saw Evan O'Connor lying on his back with his head on a step facing the patio doors.

She said Evan had no top on him but was wearing shorts.

Ms Durrigan said she then had another look at what she had initially seen behind the gates and realised it was Mark O'Connor's body. There was a white shoe on the lawn beside him.

Ms Durrigan said she got into the car and drove around the back to a neighbour's house. The witness was on the phone to gardai at 9.38am that morning when Martina Malone came out of her house.

Ms Durrigan told Ms Malone that Evan and Mark were dead. Ms Malone then brought the carer into her house and locked the door behind them.

The witness said she was quite distressed at the time and had known the O'Connor family for the previous seven years.

Ms Durrigan said she had met the accused man Robert three weeks prior to this and found him very polite.

She said Mark and Louise O'Connor were lovely people, but were very private.

Martina Malone told the jurors that she lived quite close to the O'Connor home and became aware of something 'kicking off' at Drumgowna on the evening of September 28, when she heard "a roar or a shout".

She agreed with the prosecutor that she told gardai she knew this was Robert's voice, even though sometimes his younger brother Evan would have outbursts due to his special needs.

Ms Malone said she heard "the same shouting" coming from the O'Connor house again between 9pm and 10pm.

She said she could still hear the shouting "on and off" even when the television was on and had gotten upset by it.

When her husband told her the next morning at 8.10am that Robert was in the yard at the side of the house, Ms Malone said she had texted Louise O'Connor as she assumed they must have locked the accused out, but she never received a reply.

Ms Malone's husband Raymond told the panel that he had heard Robert shouting from his house on the evening of September 28.

Mr Malone said a lot of it didn't many any sense and the only phrase he heard was; "I'll end you, I'll f**king end you".

Mr Malone agreed he had told gardai he thought Robert was just having an episode and that everything would be OK.

The witness said the accused was at his gate around 8.15am the next morning and apologised for the noise the previous night.

Mr Malone said Robert was calm but got a bit agitated as he went on. The witness told the court that the accused said 'where do I go from here'.

Another neighbour, Gerry Mallon, said he heard unusual shouting around 7.30pm on September 28 when he was putting the bins out.

He described it as horse noises, which he said were coming from the O'Connor's front garden.

When he went back outside around 8.30pm, Mr Mallon said he saw a man shouting and doing kangaroo jumps up and down in the air in the O'Connor's back garden.

The witness said he assumed it was Evan, the youngest O'Connor boy who had special needs.

Another neighbour, Sean Kerr, agreed with the prosecutor that he had told gardai that Robert seemed to be in "outer space or on another planet" when he saw him on the morning of September 28.

The next witness, Ruth Callan, told the panel she heard a lot of sirens when she was in her house in Tallanstown at 9.45am on September 29.

As she made her way to the front door, she saw a black shadow move across the window and thought it was the postman.

As Ms Callan opened the door, she alerted a male outside who was standing at the gate. The witness told the jurors that the man said he was sorry and that he didn't want to scare her.

Ms Callan said she stepped out towards the man and could see he was visibly upset. She asked him what was wrong as he shifted from side to side. The man told her "its all mumbled up in my head, I can't explain".

Ms Callan told the man he was OK but he said: "No, no, they tortured me for years, they don't understand."

As the witness told the man to catch his breath and asked who, the man said: "My family, he did, he manipulated me for years."

"He was pleading, saying 'I just need to' and then said the word 'to charge'," continued the witness.

She said the man asked if he could come into her house but she refused. When the witness introduced herself as 'Ruth', the man said his name was 'Robert' and lived down the road.

When the witness asked Robert what happened, the accused told her: "I killed them."

Ms Callan said that as the sirens were getting closer, Robert asked her again if he could come inside her house. The witness asked the accused whether the sirens were for him and he replied: "Yes, I killed them."

The witness said the accused was visibly upset and shaky. "He said 'I'm sorry Ruth' and walked towards Tallanstown," she continued.

Ms Callan said she went back inside her house, locked her front door and rang 999 at 10.04am. She told the prosecutor she never saw the accused's hands, as he kept them inside the pockets of his hoodie.

The trial continues on Friday before Mr Justice Mícheál P O’Higgins and a jury of six men and six women.