A mother discovered the battered body of her pregnant daughter hours after she was murdered by her former partner, Dublin’s Central Criminal Court heard today.
Jean Quigley was beaten and strangled at her home in Cornshell Fields, Derry on July 26th last year.
Her ex-lover, Stephen Cahoon, is accused of murdering the mother-of-four and is making legal history as the first person to face a jury south of the Border for a non-terrorist related offence in Northern Ireland.
The 37-year-old, who admits killing Ms Quigley but denies murder, opted to have his trial in the Republic after he was arrested in Donegal.
A jury at the Central Criminal Court heard Cahoon, of Harvey Street, Derry, called at his former girlfriend’s home in the Shantallow area of the city following a night out.
Ms Quigley was alone at the time but the jury was told neighbours heard wailing and a man’s voice coming from the semi-detached house in the early hours of the morning.
The next day, relatives were unable to contact the pregnant 30-year-old and called at her home after growing concerned.
Ms Quigley’s mother Emma used a spare key to let herself into the house, Patrick Marrinan Senior Counsel told the court.
“She went into her bedroom and she saw the naked body of her daughter, battered and bruised,” the prosecution lawyer said.
Ms Quigley had no pulse and was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor who arrived shortly after, he added.
A full-scale murder investigation was launched and Mr Cahoon was quickly identified as a suspect, the court heard.
PSNI officers who called to his city centre flat discovered he had left and a cross-border manhunt was launched.
The court heard that when gardai approached the defendant on August 5th in Donegal town he initially gave a false name before stating: “I’m Stephen Cahoon and I’m the man you’re looking for.”
The court heard Ms Quigley had four children from a previous relationship before becoming involved with Mr Cahoon in March 2008.
“Friends described them to be very affectionate to each other and very loving,” Mr Marrinan said.
Ms Quigley became pregnant but the relationship deteriorated and she split up with Cahoon in early July, the jury heard.
Mr Marrinan said while Miss Quigley could be feisty and hot-tempered, she was a kind, generous and warm person.
“Jean was a good mother to her children. She had many friends, she was very close to her family,” he added.
Last November Gerard Mackin, of Belfast, became the first person to be convicted by a Dublin court for a murder carried out in Northern Ireland.
Mackin was jailed for life by the non-jury Special Criminal Court after he was found guilty of killing Belfast taxi driver Eddie Burns in the city in 2007.
PA