Darren Murphy murder trial ends with hung jury

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The jury in Darren Murphy’s murder trial at the Central Criminal Court could not decide whether he was guilty of murdering Olivia Dunlea or manslaughter. The proceedings were reported on 2 June 2017.

Murphy pleaded not guilty to murdering Dunlea at her home in Pembroke Crescent, Passage West, County Cork, on 17 February 2013. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but that plea was rejected.

After seven hours and 13 minutes of deliberations, the five women and seven men on the jury said they could not overcome their disagreement. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy thanked them and remanded Murphy until 26 June, when a date for a new trial might be set.

Murphy told gardaí that he stabbed Dunlea during an argument. He said he “lost it” and “snapped” after she told him to leave because another man was calling over. The report said he stabbed her six times in the neck, set fire to her house and left.

The jury was asked to consider whether Dunlea had provoked Murphy to the point where he lost all self-control. Mr Justice McCarthy explained that, if he was provoked, the appropriate verdict would be manslaughter.

It was Murphy’s second trial for Dunlea’s death. He had been convicted of murder in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but the verdict was quashed on appeal because the trial judge had erred in explaining provocation to the jury.