A 36-year-old man died instantly when he was shot five times at close range after he opened the door of his family home to his killer in Co Cork over a decade ago, an inquest has heard.
Darren Falsey, a native of Waterfall outside Cork city, was shot five times at his home at Ashbourne Court, Carrigaline, Co Cork on the afternoon of August 3rd, 2011.
The jury of four men and two women at the South Cork Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case after they heard that no one has ever been prosecuted for Mr Falsey’s murder despite an extensive Garda investigation.
Mr Falsey’s partner Lorraine Conroy didn’t attend the inquest but told gardaí in a statement that she had left the family home at about 2pm on August 3rd, but returned home about 40 minutes later.
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Mr Falsey had been alone in the house when Ms Conroy left, but when she returned, she noticed the sliding porch door was open. When she opened the front door, she saw her partner lying on the floor and initially thought he was joking, but then saw blood.
She ran into a neighbour’s house and asked them to ring the emergency services. When she returned to the house to Mr Falsey, who was lying face down on the floor, she saw two bullet casings near his body. “I don’t remember much after that,” she said.
Inspector Martin Canny, of Togher Garda Station, said gardaí arrived at the scene quickly and when they established there were no signs of life from Mr Falsey, the scene was sealed off. Death was formally pronounced at 3.35pm.
Five bullet casings were recovered from the hallway. Following the receipt of postmortem results, a full murder investigation was launched. To date no one has been charged in the case, said Insp Canny.
Assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster said her autopsy revealed that Mr Falsey – who had traces of cocaine and cannabis in his system – was shot five times but had suffered seven entry and exit wounds.
[ Victim shot dead in Cork may have known his killerOpens in new window ]
She believed Mr Falsey was shot first in the face, then in the shoulder, which she believed was a defensive wound, before he was shot in the thorax or chest – with the bullet piercing his aorta – and this would have been “immediately fatal”.
Dr Bolster said that the cause of death was haemorrhage and shock due to a laceration of the aorta resulting from gunshot wounds to the side of the thorax, associated with cerebral trauma also due to gunshot wounds.
After the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, Coroner Frank O’Connell said there could be no justification for what was “a hit” and he expressed hope that those responsible would be brought to justice, before extending his sympathies to the Falsey family.
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