The convicted murderer, Mark Nash who was asked to attend the inquest tomorrow into the deaths of Sylvia Shields and Mary Callinan has refused to attend.
Nash told the Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian J. Farrell, that he did not wish to attend or co-operate with the inquest.
The two women were both patients at Grangegorman psychiatric hospital Dublin, when they were murdered on March 6th, 1997. The inquest had been adjourned because of an ongoing Garda investigation.
An inquest is held to establish the facts and medical causes of deaths. It cannot apportion responsibility or blame. A coroner may issue a summons asking any person who has information relating to the death to be present and to give evidence.
A homeless heroin addict confessed to the murders but his confession was controversial as the video of his questioning showed him confused and incoherent. However, his statement contained a chronologically correct account of the murders, with a detailed description of the interior of the house.
Eight months after his arrest he was released without any reason being given. He later died of an overdose in 1999.
Nash was convicted of the murder of a young couple, Catherine and Carl Doyle at their home in Roscommon. While he was in Garda custody in Galway, he started talking about the Grangegorman murders, describing them in great detail.
It has been reported that the Prison Service said it would produce Nash at the Coroner's Court tomorrow morning, but only on foot of a High Court Order.