Cause of Elaine O’Hara’s death ‘never established’

The cause of Elaine O'Hara's death was never established and neither foul play nor self-harm could be ruled out, Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told the murder trial of Graham Dwyer.

He agreed with a proposition put to him by Seán Guerin SC, for the DPP, that had Ms O’Hara (36) been stabbed, the bones recovered might show no signs of that injury. Only 60-65 per cent of Ms O’Hara’s bones were recovered in the Dublin mountains.

“It may be that a person had been stabbed and the stabbing might not involve bone; a bone would not be injured,” he said. It was also possible that some of the remainder of Ms O’Hara’s bones, which were not recovered, could have suffered injury consistent with being stabbed. “We can only examine the material we have,” said Dr Curtis.

Under cross-examination by Remy Farrell SC for the accused, Graham Dwyer (42) of Foxrock, Co Dublin, it was put to Dr Curtis that death by self-harm might leave no trace on the bones.

"That's correct," Dr Curtis told the Central Criminal Court. When asked by Mr Farrell if cutting one's own wrists would mark bones he said: "It usually wouldn't."

When asked if asphyxiation would leave obvious signs on a person’s bones, Dr Curtis said while it might, “it frequently would not”.

When asked if being stabbed in the chest could prove fatal but not leave marks on bones, he said this was possible. “I sometimes see those where it goes between the ribs. It is less common, but it’s by no means rare.” He added a stab wound to the abdomen would “almost certainly not” leave traces on bone.

Dr Curtis said Ms O’Hara’s skull, hands and arms were among the bones never recovered.

Visited the location

On September 14th, 2013, he visited the location at Killakee, Rathfarnham, in the Dublin mountains where the remains were found. He said he could see animal runs in the “heather and young trees” which suggested there had been “animal activity” around the body parts.

Also giving evidence yesterday were colleagues who worked in a newsagents with Ms O'Hara in Blackrock Shopping Centre, in Dublin. Jane Cahill said she had known Ms O'Hara for about 10 years and worked with her at Ken's Newsagents, also known as Robertson's Newsagents. She told the court on the day Ms O'Hara disappeared, the Killiney woman telephoned the shop requesting to work additional hours the following week.

She said Ms O’Hara was often keen to make extra money as she would get down about paying her bills. While Ms O’Hara was open about her mental health issues, Ms Cahill said she would not reveal in conversation exactly what those problems were. She was also aware Ms O’Hara had self-harmed, saying she saw scars on her arms. While Ms O’Hara mentioned a preference for bondage, Ms Cahill said she did not take the remark seriously. “There was an impression that she liked to shock,” she said. “We didn’t actually think it was true.”

Another colleague at the newsagents and the daughter of the shop owner, Emma Robertson, said Ms O'Hara had mentioned to another shop worker that she was involved with a married man and had met men online.

She added: “Caroline just said, ‘Be careful Elaine you can come across some strange men on those . . . you need to be careful’.”

‘Handcuffs’

On one occasion, when Ms O’Hara went to her phone to show Ms Robertson a photograph of her niece,

Ms Roberston

said she saw a photo of items that struck her as unusual: “Handcuffs and, I don’t know, a whip or something weird like that.”

While Ms O’Hara had told Ms Cahill she could not have children because of the medication she was on, she told Ms Robertson on one occasion that she thought she might be pregnant. However, she did not act on the suggestion to buy a pregnancy test from a nearby chemist and the matter was never raised again.

When asked if Ms O’Hara had ever mentioned seeing “a married man from down the country”, Ms Robertson did not recall that exact remark.

Pharmacist Soha Yazbeck told the court Ms O’Hara purchased medication every month from the pharmacy at Belarmine, Stepaside, south Dublin, close to where the deceased was living at the time of her disappearance.

Ms Yazbeck said that over a two-year period Ms O’Hara had been sold €8,740 worth of medication. A prescription filled on the day Ms O’Hara disappeared contained 10 items for a range of health issues including diabetes, asthma, depression, vertigo, cholesterol, a stomach problem and nerves.