Blunt-force trauma caused death

The remains of a man murdered in his Enniskillen home by his wife and her lover were discovered 10 months later in a Leitrim forest, an inquest heard yesterday.

Carrick-on-Shannon Coroner's Court heard that DNA and dental records were used to identify the body of Gerald McGinley, a native of Co Leitrim, whose badly decomposed body was found in the Aughnasheelin area near Ballinamore on June 3rd, 2001.

In 2003 Belfast Crown Court convicted Mr McGinley's wife Julie (formerly Bracken) and her lover, Michael Monaghan, from Grange, Co Sligo, of the murder.

The trial was told that Mr McGinley had been killed because he had become an impediment to a love affair between his wife and Mr Monaghan. Amanda O'Connell, from Cloverhill, Ballinamore, told the jury she was walking in the forest with her sister when they found the body.

Garda Joseph McGovern, one of the first officers at the scene, said the remains were partially covered with a black polythene sheet and were behind an uprooted tree above St Patrick's Well, near Aughnasheelin.

State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy, who carried out the postmortem, said all clothing and personal artefacts had been removed from the body in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity.

The body was badly decomposed and there were fractures to the right side of the face, to the forehead, behind the right ear and on the left lower jaw.

The victim had been struck with a heavy object. In Prof Cassidy's opinion, death was due to blunt-force trauma to the head.

Dental surgeon Hugh James Barry said he had used dental records to establish that these were the remains of Gerald McGinley.

Dr Dorothy Ramsbottom, who carried out DNA analysis at the forensic science laboratory at Garda headquarters, said her results strongly supported the conclusion that the remains were those of Gerald McGinley.

The jury found in accordance with the medical evidence that Mr McGinley died as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head.

They returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

Coroner Dr Des Moran described the case as extremely sad. He said there were many victims as a result, including the McGinley family, who were hard-working and highly respected in north Leitrim.

The Bracken family were also innocent victims, as were the couple's two children, he said.