Possible attempt made to amputate arm of woman after she died, murder trial hears
Olivia Kelleher
A possible attempt was made to amputate the left arm of a 27-year-old woman who was found with multiple stab wounds in a burning apartment in Midleton, Co Cork, a murder trial has heard.
Adam Corcoran (31) denies murdering Daena Walsh, his partner of several years, at their apartment in John Barry House, Midleton, Co Cork on August 2nd, 2024. He has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing damage to the apartment by fire on the same date.
A trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork heard that State Pathologist, Dr Yvonne McCartney, conduced a postmortem examination on Ms Walsh’s remains. She said that the mother of two sustained multiple sharp force injuries to her face, neck, chest and abdomen which led to hypoglycaemic shock and cardio respiratory arrest.
The postmortem revealed the presence of 11 stab wounds, including one to her which chest which was 11.5 centimetres deep. It had penetrated through her sternum and some of her clothing had lodged in the bone. Ms Walsh also had 14 incised wounds.
Dr McCartney said that Ms Walsh had a “gaping” sharp force injury to her left arm by the elbow which measured 11.2cms vertically and 9.9cms horizontally. There was also a sharp force injury to the underlying bone.
Defence barrister, Brendan Grehan, SC, put it to Dr McCartney that it “sounded like there was an attempt to amputate the arm.” The pathologist agreed with his assertion. She said : “That is what is appears. It is difficult to say because of the heat. Injuries might have been inflicted post mortem.” She stated that appearances suggested that but that she couldn’t definitively say “because of the heat.”
Mr Grehan in his cross examination said the large wound to the left arm was the only wound that did not have an associated haemorrhage. He said that would feed in to the view of the pathologist that “it may have been inflicted post mortem.”
The jury heard that one of stab wounds penetrated the sternum and the pericardium of the heart. Dr McCartney said that this wound in itself could have been “independently fatal.” She indicated that it was difficult to make a definitive conclusion on the exact level of force required to inflict it. However, she stated that it was “moderate or strong.”Meanwhile, Dr McCartney said that the clothing of the deceased was very wet and that part of her top was embedded in her sternum. Her clothing was heavily blood stained. A bead from jewellery in the shape of a star was also embedded in a stab wound.
Ms Walsh had multiple tattoos on her body. One read “Young, Wild and Free” whilst others had names. She had the words “Never Give Up” tatooed on a wrist.
Dr McCartney noted that Ms Walsh had multiple lacerations and abrasions to her body. She also had abrasions to her lower lip and inside her mouth. She noted the presence of “notching” on stab wounds which was the likely composite of multiple stabbings in the same area.
The pathologist said that the body of the deceased sustained some heat related damage and slippage to the skin.
Alcohol below the legal limit, prescribed medication in the therapeutic level and a metabolite of cocaine was present in the urine of the deceased.
Dr McCartney said that Ms Walsh had defensive injuries to her arms and legs. She disagreed with a suggestion made by Mr Grehan that some of the wounds could well have been self inflicted. However, she acknowledged that she couldn’t rule that out completely.
The trial will continue on Friday in front of a jury of eight men and four women. It is being presided over by Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford.
