Open verdicts have been returned by a coroner at the inquest into the deaths of a reclusive elderly English couple who were found dead in their remote bungalow in South Tipperary 18 months after they were last seen alive.
Coroner for Tipperary, Joseph Kelly said he believed an open verdict was the most appropriate verdict in the case of the deaths of retired sea captain, Nicholas Smith (82) and his wife, Hillary (79) who were found dead at their home at Rossane, Cloneen on June 20th 2022.
Mr Kelly said while Mr Smith died most probably from coronary artery disease which would normally lead to a verdict of death by natural causes, the fact he had notified his doctor in Clonmel that he was leaving for France but continued living in Rossane made the case more complex.
He said he believed the most appropriate verdict in the case of the death of Mr Smith was an open verdict and a similar verdict was also appropriate in the case of the death Ms Smith after a postmortem was unable to ascertain any precise cause of death in her case.
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“Certain matters may never be known as those who are best placed to explain are no longer with us,” said the coroner as he extended his sympathies to Mr Smith’s brother, Andrew and Ms Smith’s son, Michael Knowles who was not present but was legally represented by solicitor, Emer Lyons.
Andrew Smith, who did attend the hearing at Clonmel Courthouse, thanked the coroner and gardaí and Chief State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan for their work in investigating the death of his brother and sister-in-law which he described as “a difficult and distressing case”.
Dr Mulligan told how she examined the mummified remains of both Mr and Ms Smith at University Hospital Waterford on June 21st 2022, and concluded neither party had suffered any fractures or trauma nor had they contracted Covid-19.
She found evidence of Mr Smith suffering from obstruction of his coronary artery and she believed he died from severe coronary atherosclerosis while decomposition meant she could find no anatomical evidence why Ms Smith died but there was no evidence of any other party being involved.
Dr Mulligan said given the extensive level of decomposition, it was impossible to say whether Mr Smith or Ms Smith died first but she believed they both died around the same time and both had been dead for over a year.
Garda Mary Lonergan told how she had been alerted by local Fine Gael Cllr Mark Fitzgerald on June 6th 2022 after the Smiths’ neighbour, Brian O’Gorman became concerned when he noticed the couple’s cars were still at the house even though he hadn’t seen them since November 2020.
Mr O’Gorman said the Smiths had been living at the house for around three years but he had only spoke to them three times in that period as they were very private and always kept the blinds and curtains closed. He had heard Ms Smith had a sensitivity to light.
“They were very private people,” he said. He found it strange the Smiths’ cars were still parked out the back of the house in June 2022 after they were supposed to have left for France months earlier, so he contacted Cllr Fitzgerald who alerted gardaí.
Garda Lonergan told how she made contact with another neighbour, Mary Morrissey, who said she had received a letter from the Smiths in October 2020 saying they were moving to France and were selling the house to another couple from England.
Ms Morrissey said the Smiths were nice people but very private and she knew Ms Smith was terrified of catching Covid.
Witness, Billy Brett told how he used to cut the grass for the Smiths after they moved to Rossane ten years earlier, describing Mr Smith “as a gentleman” whom he recalled told him he suffered from poor health while he only met Ms Smith three times as she was always indoors when he called.
He received a text from Mr Smith on November 17th 2020, asking to meet him as he wanted to fix up his account as they were moving to France. He met him four days later and Mr Smith gave him an envelope containing €700 which was about twice what he owed him.
Garda Lonergan said also that he had sent an email to his doctor in October 2022, saying he was moving to France. She decided to carry out a welfare check and asked locksmith, Michael Darcy to accompany her and other gardaí to the house. She went with Sgt Margaret Kelly and Garda Fiona Gleeson on June 20th 2022.
The doors were locked and when Mr Darcy was drilling the barrel of the lock on the back door, he noticed it was filled with glue.
Garda Lonergan and Sgt Kelly told how they found the body of a woman upright in a chair in the front room and she was clothed with a duvet over her while a heater was on. The body of a man was found under a sheet in a single bed in a back bedroom.
Det Garda Michelle Cahill said gardaí obtained dental records from a local dentist and “no irreconcilable inconsistencies” were found with what was found at postmortem while DNA samples were also taken and checked with Andrew Smith and Michael Knowles to confirm their identities.
She told how gardaí had established that the Smiths, who had lived and worked in Hong Kong and Australia where Mr Smith was a ship’s captain, moved from the UK to Rathmacarthy, Rosegreen in Co Tipperary in 2006 and later moved to Rossane, Cloneen in 2009.
Gardaí examined Mr Smith’s mobile phone and found that the last call he made was on December 17th 2020, while a text message was sent on December 30th 2020 while the last call made from the couple’s landline was made on December 8th 2020.
Mr Smith also had an email address and gardaí established that the last email he sent was to western House Medical Centre in Clonmel on December 14th 2020 to inform Dr Martin Rouse they no longer required his services as they were moving to France.
Det Garda Cahill told how the couple also held a joint bank account from which they made various donations, totalling almost €16,000 in November and December 2020 to various charities in the UK and Ireland including the Guidedogs, PAWS, DSCPA, Dogstrust and Barnardos.
She said gardaí found a milk carton in the Smiths’ fridge with a December 27th expiry date and they established that it had been purchased at Supervalu in Callan, Co Kilkenny on December 17th which was the last date there was activity on the couple’s bank account.
Det Garda Cahill said the case garnered a lot of media coverage which led to some genealogical research companies tracing both Andrew Smith and Michael Knowles who both contacted gardaí at Clonmel and both made detailed statements to investigators.
Mr Knowles, who provided gardaí with a birth certificate that he was born Michael Taylor to Hilary Smith (née Taylor), “appears to have been abandoned by Hilary Smith as a young boy and was raised by his grandmother and adopted her maiden name of Knowles,” the inquest heard.
“Michael Knowles stated that he never had any contact with Hilary Smith, his mother and he had no knowledge of her moving to Ireland,” said Det Garda Cahill, adding that ongoing health difficulties prevented him from travelling to Ireland, but he had assisted gardaí by providing a DNA sample.
Andrew Smith told the inquest he was six years younger than his brother and they were never particularly close as his brother had left to join the Merchant Naval Service when he (Andrew) was just 12 and he used to see him only occasionally when he came home on leave.
Mr Smith said his older brother always seemed “very glamorous as he always had money” on these visits home but he hadn’t met him since 1987. “I didn’t know he had moved to Ireland – we just drifted apart, I never visited him in Ireland,” he said.
After returning open verdicts, the coroner said it was a very tragic case involving a couple who clearly valued their privacy which was respected by the local community in Cloneen where he noted the Smiths had withdrawn at a time when Covid-19 had reduced people’s social interaction.
“During this period with Covid-19, many within local communities did self-isolate as was mandatory but when regulations were lifted, many continued to self -isolate and remained in fear of Covid-19 though there was no direct evidence that they (the Smiths) had self-isolated for that reason.
“It is apparent they intended to withdraw from society – unfortunately the closely-knit community of Cloneen had no idea they had remained at their home and their discovery was deeply upsetting for the community,” said Mr Kelly as he commended gardaí on their thorough investigation.
