A note saying to “check upstairs and out the back” was left inside the home of a Co Clare couple who were found dead on November 9th, 2023, an inquest has heard.
A jury at Clare Coroner’s Court on Tuesday returned an open verdict regarding the death of Claire Collins (50) and a verdict of death by suicide in respect of her husband, Joe Collins (54), following recommendations from coroner Isobel O’Dea.
The inquest heard Ms Collins, a mother of two, died by asphyxia due to smothering. Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster said: “The findings are consistent with pressure by a pillow over a face put in place by a third party.”
Dr Bolster said there was bruising on Ms Collins’s right wrist joint and the back of her right hand, indicating defensive type injuries.
Ms O’Dea said an open verdict means the available evidence does not fully disclose the means by which the cause of death occurred or does not meet the required standard of proof for another verdict.
The inquest heard an anonymous male phoned the National Ambulance Service at 3.09am on November 9th to say there had been “a tragedy” at the home of Joe and Claire Collins, located near Corofin.
Brian Sammon, who took the call, said the man “refused to expand” and when pressed as to what he meant by tragedy, the man said to “just come or words to that effect”.
“He provided a townland and I can’t remember what it was. I eventually got a good location as I could.”
Mr Sammon said the caller provided his wife’s phone number “after some hesitation” and then got “frustrated and hung up”.
He said he phoned the number provided but it rang out and went to voicemail. He left two messages saying that if the man required an ambulance, he should call back.
The emergency services would not arrive at the scene until almost 12 hours later.
In a deposition read out at the inquest, Brian Collins said he discovered his brother’s body at the rear of the house and Ms Collins’s body laid out on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. He said he arrived and saw a note on the stairs inside the front door saying “upstairs and out the back”.
Brian Collins said he raised the alarm and his brother Pat arrived soon afterwards.
He said he had attended a funeral removal with his brother Joe the previous evening and they had arranged to meet the next day at midday to fit a water softener.
Sgt Dominic Regan, of Ennis Garda station, said he arrived at the home at 2.53pm after receiving a call saying there was a report of two people dead. He also saw a note on the stairs saying to “check upstairs and out the back”.
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He said he went to an upstairs bedroom and observed “a body of a deceased female” and said there “were no signs of life and also no obvious injuries apart from dried blood on her lips”.
Sgt Regan went outside and saw a body with a coat over it and now knows it was Joe Collins.
In a deposition, Catriona Murphy, who worked with Ms Collins at the Burren Centre in Kilfenora, said she had spoken to her by phone twice on the evening of November 8th about work and that Ms Collins sounded fine at the time.
At the inquest, however, Ms Murphy said there was “a discernible difference in tone and demeanour” between the two phone calls. “I asked her if she was okay and she said that she was.”
At the conclusion of the inquest, Ms O’Dea extended her sympathies to the families of Claire and Joe Collins, including their daughters, Tara and Sara, adding that “no words can describe how awful it must be for all of you”.
Ms O’Dea also read out a statement on behalf of the Collins and Meere families, which said they were “still processing the grief and loss we feel every day for both Claire and Joe”, who were described as “two irreplaceable people”.
* To contact Samaritans email jo@samaritans.ie or call 116 123
