A computer from the business office of a man whose partner is accused hiring a former Las Vegas poker dealer to kill him and his two sons had been used to search for hitmen on the internet, a Central Court Jury has heard.
Ms Sharon Collins (45), with an address at Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, and Mr Essam Eid (52), an Egyptian man with a Las Vegas address have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to kill PJ, Robert and Niall Howard between August 1st 2006 and 26 September 2006. Ms Collins also denies hiring Mr Eid to shoot the three men.
Mr Eid denies demanding €100,000 from Mr Robert Howard to cancel the contracts. He also denies breaking into the Howard family business at Westgate Business Park and stealing two computers, some computer cables, a digital clock and a poster of old Irish money and then handling the stolen items.
Detective Sergeant Michael Gubbins told Ms Una Ni Raifeartaigh, prosecuting, that an Advent desktop computer, stolen from the offices of Downes & Howard, had been used to search for the terms hitman, assassin and contract killer on key dates in August 2006.
On August 2nd Det Sgt Gubbins said that the user of the Advent searched using the term hitman and accessed the site Hitman.us, and receiving an email from killers_at_hitman.us. They also searched for information on inheritance rights for both married and cohabiting couple and for information on domestic violence.
They visited the Revenue website and the Government information website looking for inheritance information and also called to Irishwills.com.
He said the user also visited the AIB website several times getting a quote for a personal loan for between €17,000 and €20,000. They also bought a three month supply of the weight loss drug Reductil from an online pharmacy website in the name of Sharon Collins.
A second laptop, an Iridium that had been taken from the house Mr Howard shared with Ms Collins was also examined. Det Sgt Gubbins said there had been a user profile on the laptop called Sharon but it had been deleted on October 13 2006.
Det Sgt Gubbins said he had also examined a Toshiba laptop belonging to Mr Robert Howard, which had also been stolen from the offices of Downes & Howard on September 25th 2006.
Det Sgt Gubbins said he had also performed a key word search on all three computers for the name ¿Maria Marconi¿. Maria Marconi is the name of the woman Ms Collins says was teaching her to write a novel and had access to all the computers when she visited Ireland around the time of the events.
Det Sgt Gubbins said he had been unable to find any reference to the name on any of the computers.
The jury also heard from Special Agent Scott Baakkan from the FBI in Las Vegas. He told Mr Tom O¿Connell SC, prosecuting, that he had searched for Maria Marconi in the Las Vegas area but she did not and had never owned a car or a house, had insurance or paid a utility bill in the area. He said that no one of that name had left the United States between June 1st 2006 and October 1st 2006.
The trial will continue tomorrow before Mr Justice Roderick Murphy and the jury of eight men and four women.