Darren Murphy pleads guilty to manslaughter, denies murder

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

Darren Murphy pleaded not guilty to murdering Olivia Dunlea but guilty to her manslaughter and to arson at her home. He was accused of killing Ms Dunlea at Pembroke Crescent, Passage West, Co Cork, on 17 February 2013.

The proceedings were reported on 21 May 2014. In his opening statement at the Central Criminal Court on 20 May, prosecuting counsel Thomas Creed told the jury that Ms Dunlea’s body was found in an upstairs bedroom after a fire at her home.

Mr Creed said Murphy admitted that he had “snapped” and grabbed a knife, and that he had lit a quilt beside the bed and tissue paper on the kitchen table before leaving the house.

Counsel said State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy would tell the jury that Ms Dunlea had six stab wounds. He said she had inhaled toxic fumes and that the cause of death was a stab wound to the neck and inhalation of those fumes. He said Professor Cassidy had suggested that Ms Dunlea might have been incapacitated when the fire started and that the wounds could have caused spinal shock, a form of instant paralysis.

The murder trial was continuing before a jury, with Mr Justice Paul Carney presiding.