AN INQUEST into the death of Dwayne Foster, a suspect in the fatal shooting of young mother Donna Cleary, opened in Dublin yesterday.
Mr Foster (24), of Woodbank Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, was discovered unresponsive in Coolock Garda station on March 7th, 2006, and was taken to Beaumont Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A postmortem by the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, found that Mr Foster died as a result of methadone intoxication.
Mr Foster had been previously identified as a suspect in the shooting of Ms Cleary, a mother of one, at a party in Coolock in the early hours of March 5th, 2006.
Paul Maguire, a friend of Mr Foster’s, was going to the shops with his wife at about 10pm on Sunday, March 5th, 2006, when the couple were stopped by gardaí.
Mr Maguire told the first day of an expected five-day inquest into Mr Foster’s death at Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday that two gardaí, wearing padded vests and carrying handguns, appeared at the two front windows of the jeep.
When Mr Maguire went to move forward, one of the gardaí pointed his weapon at him and said, “don’t f***ing move or I’ll blow your head off”, Mr Maguire said.
A third garda got into the back of the vehicle and asked the couple who was in their house.
“He said do you realise a heinous crime has been committed and [he said] we have a search warrant to get into your house. She [Ms Maguire] said you don’t need a search warrant and gave him the keys.
“They were very anxious to get back to our house,” said Mr Maguire, who described the gardaí as very tense.
Mr Maguire had received a call from Mr Foster earlier that day, asking him if he could stay with him as he had had a fight with his wife.
Mr Foster arrived at Mr Maguire’s home at Thornton Lodge, The Curragh, Co Kildare, at about 3.30pm with two other men whom Mr Maguire didn’t know.
Mr Foster, referred to by Mr Maguire as “Billser” or “Billy”, looked rough and “unshaven” and was nervous and “wouldn’t look me in the eye”, Mr Maguire told the inquest.
The four men had a few beers together and smoked a few joints, although Mr Foster, who he noticed had a mark over his eye, didn’t smoke and he didn’t see him take any medication, Mr Maguire said.
He said that he had never known Mr Foster to mention methadone.
At about 8.30pm Mr Maguire’s wife, Suzanne, returned home and at about 10pm she drove to the shop with her husband to get milk and cream.
They were stopped en route by gardaí who asked Ms Maguire who was in the house, the inquest heard.
“She said Dwayne Foster, [Wayne] Hart and the other [fellow] I didn’t know,” Mr Maguire told the court.
“At some point they mentioned Donna Cleary. They said we’re waiting for a search warrant. I said you can have the keys,” Ms Maguire told the inquest.
When they were then brought into the kitchen of their house some time later, a garda again asked were they aware that a heinous crime was committed and they said they were not aware, Mr Maguire said.
The couple were later arrested and brought to Whitehall Garda station.
When they returned home three day later their house was “in bits”, a tearful Mr Maguire said.
“Everything was just thrown around,” he told the court.
Both Mr and Ms Maguire were later questioned about blood-stained tissues found in a bathroom and about blood staining on the sitting room floor, but they said they didn’t know anything about either matter.
The inquest heard that neither Mr nor Ms Maguire had noticed what appeared to be red coloration on the eyelids, neck and hairline of Dwayne Foster as shown in a photograph in the court yesterday.
His brother Eddie Foster told the inquest that Dwayne, who was the father of four children, was diagnosed with nasal cancer when his was 17 and had been given the all clear.
He said he didn’t know whether Dwayne had a problem with drugs or whether he took medication on a regular basis.
The inquest into his death continues today when members of the jury will for the first time see video footage of Dwayne Foster being interviewed by gardaí about the shooting of ms Cleary.