Child of mother killed in rural home requested coco pops after gardai found body, trial hears

A murder trial at the Central Criminal Court has heard evidence concerning the death of Valerie French Kilroy, a forty-one-year-old occupational therapist, discovered in a campervan at her home near Westport, County Mayo in June 2019. The Chief State Pathologist determined she died from ligature strangulation in association with blunt force trauma to the head and a stab wound to the neck, with defensive wounds also noted to her hands. James Kilroy, aged forty-nine, a park ranger from Kilbree Lower, Westport, is charged with her murder between 13 and 14 June 2019. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, though his legal representatives have made formal admissions that he killed his wife. The trial before Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury has heard that Kilroy was discovered naked and distressed in a field on the morning of 14 June. When informed of his transfer to psychiatric care at Castlebar Garda Station, he told gardaí he had killed his wife and subsequently demonstrated to officers how he had carried out the killing. Three young children were found at the property in a state of significant distress, hungry and severely dehydrated. One child requested breakfast cereal following the discovery, which a garda witness obtained. A consultant psychiatrist from Mayo Mental Health Services who assessed Kilroy on the day the body was discovered concluded he did not meet the criteria for involuntary mental health detention. During that assessment, Kilroy indicated he was "on a mission from God to kill" his wife and stated that killing her "wasn't part of the plan", attributing the act to divine will. An Airbnb guest staying in a self-contained area of the property reported seeing a man in dark clothing near the house on the evening in question but heard nothing unusual. The trial continues with conflicting psychiatric evidence expected from the defence regarding Kilroy's mental state at the time of the killing.