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"Must get fit for the murder": Jury hears of text message backed-up on Elaine O'Hara's laptop

Summary

During the 20th day of the murder trial of Graham Dwyer, evidence was presented that a text message reading "Must get fit for the murder" was backed up onto Elaine O'Hara's laptop. Computer crime experts examined O'Hara's Apple Mac, which had been synced with an iPhone, and extracted hundreds of SMS messages from a forensic copy of the hard drive. The messages were traced to a number 083 1103474, which was also found in O'Hara's calendar as "Graham's phone number." The jury saw screenshots of messages sent from this number, including one dated March 31 2011 that referenced a child's name, and another from November 15 2011. Additional testimony detailed the purchase of Nokia phones and mobile top‑ups linked to the number, but no definitive link to the murder was established in the court record. The trial proceeded before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of five women and seven men.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: "Must get fit for the murder": Jury hears of text message backed-up on Elaine O'Hara's laptop. Charges or matters: Ms O'Hara's murder at Killakee, Rathfarnham on August 22nd, 2012, hours after she was discharged from a mental health hospital; murdering the 36-year-old childcare worker on that date. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• August 22nd, 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 30th 2011 Other
• January 1st 1970 Hearing Or Sentence
• March 31st, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
• November 15th, 2011 Other
• November 30th, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
• July 3rd, 2012 Other
• July 24th, 2012 Other
• March 25th, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
• November 22nd Hearing Or Sentence
• December 1st, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
• March 28th, 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
• August 22nd Hearing Or Sentence
• Friday, September 13th, 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2015-02-18 Publication

Why: The sergeant, who is also a forensics lecturer, explained that this software can retrieve even deleted files, whether the user had deleted them or they had been automatically deleted by successive back-ups. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report