Laois Garda detective gives evidence in Ballyfin Demense murder trial

The second day of murder trial of New York man Henry McGowan has heard evidence from the Laois Garda Detective who questioned the American after he was arrested after killing his father in Ballyfin Demense.

Mr McGowan (31), with an address at Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York in the United States has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of John McGowan (66) at Ballyfin Demesne, Ballyfin, on November 12, 2024.

Giving evidence on February 10, Detective Inspector Diarmaid Lawlor, of Portlaoise Garda Station, told Brendan Grehan SC, prosecuting, that John McGowan was a successful businessman who worked on the New York Stock Exchange.

He said his son Henry McGowan graduated from the University of Virginia and worked for a technology firm. The accused was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2022 and has no previous convictions, said the witness.

When the accused presented himself at the Mater Hospital on November 12, the garda said he described himself as having interconnected thoughts two weeks before this. The witness said the accused told doctors he was talking to God and that God was telling him what to do. He said the defendant was on and off his antipsychotic medication.

The accused's father told doctors in the hospital that his son had been hypo-manic for six months and that he had come to Ireland as he was concerned Henry was manic. Mr Grehan called this a "mission of mercy" to look after his son, which the detective agreed with.

The witness said the accused had two prior admissions to psychiatric units in New York, where he was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder. He said the accused admitted to doctors in hospital that he had a historic diagnosis of cannabis use and a family history of bipolar affective disorder.

Det Insp Lawlor said doctors didn't feel the accused met the threshold for admission into a psychiatric unit at the time.

When asked in an interview what had happened, the accused told gardai he killed "who he thought was not his father, hit his head against a wall and strangled him".

CCTV footage was shown to the jury, in which John McGowan can be seen hugging his son upon his arrival at the Mater Hospital at 11.56 am on November 12.

In his interviews with gardai following his arrest, the accused said he was in direct communication with God, who was telling him what to do, adding that his "impulse" took over in the bathroom of the pool area. He said he felt like he had to claim his life back from his father.

The defendant told officers that his father had started yelling at him like a child because he was naked.

"He got super angry, the deal was to have dinner and take the medication after. I had a sense of tranquillity after in the pool".

The accused added: "He said I had to take my medication, to me it felt like he was forcing me, I didn't follow the plan".

READ ALSO: US man strangled father at Ballyfin Demense hotel in Laois

The accused said his father's anger made him "super angry" and then he killed him.

"I attacked him as I handed him the medication," he said.

The defendant said he washed his hands after the incident, closed the bathroom door and jumped back into the pool.

The defendant went on to say he had grabbed his father by the chest, shoved him really hard and the deceased had hit his head on the hinge of a door.

READ ALSO: Court hears plea from American over father's murder in Laois at Ballyfin Demense

"I strangled him on the floor of the bathroom with my bare hands. He was on the floor and I was on top of him," he said.

Later in another interview, the accused told gardai he was pulling his medication out of the pocket of his trousers when his father entered the changing room.

"I handed him the medication at which point I began to take him down". The accused said he had to "finish the job", make sure his father was dead and that he felt he needed to die.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six men and six women.