IT had been a hard week for Garda Dan Murphy - two suicides, one "a bloodbath", the other a hanging. He was sitting over a cup of tea with the Sisters of Mercy in Goldenbridge discussing the tragedies when he was called. A man's body had been found in a car in the canal.
"He was suspended in front of the steering wheel. A newspaper floated across the front of the windscreen as if he had been reading it. The car was in second gear, the ignition was switched on, Garda Murphy said last night.
The position and condition of the car and the man inside would become central to one of the most bizarre inquests heard in Dublin. For David Ivor Swaffer (62), the man who died, was a wealthy English businessman who in the months and years before his death had taken out life cover, worth £5.8 million, with 18 different companies. The assurance companies believe David Swaffer took his own life. His two children are adamant he did not.
When the man was taken from the water, gardai discovered a key for a room in the Lansdowne hotel in Ballsbridge, Co Dublin, a wallet with British and Irish currency, and an empty 12 pack of condoms. There was a set of golf clubs in the back of the rented Volvo; the rear window of the car was smashed.
David Swaffer was a regular visitor to Ireland. His wife Jennifer told gardai he loved "the racing, the people, the golf and the Guinness". Because of his affection for the country, she had her husband cremated in Glasnevin and his ashes scattered in the country.
She did not know then he also had a long term relationship with a Dublin woman. Last week, before the inquest was resumed after a handful of adjournments, this news concerning her husband of 23 years was broken to her.
David Swaffer had met Ms Carmel Reid 10 years previously in the Dalkey Island Hotel. He had invited her racing and a relationship had developed.
She told the Coroners Court in Dublin on Tuesday that Mr Swaffer used to come to Dublin to see her every four to eight weeks. The day before his death, he called to say he was in Ireland and would come to see her that night, but he didn't turn up. He did not tell her he had been in the city for 10 days.
The Brighton stock dealer had arrived in Dublin Airport on October 12th and hired a car. He booked in to the Pierre Hotel in Dun Laoghaire, checked out on Friday 13th, returned again the following day, and stayed until the following Saturday, the day before his death.
On October 15th, he booked a room in the Lansdowne Hotel for the Saturday night. In that room, gardai found a note he had written to remind himself to book a room in the Forte Hotel on Sunday night because it offered a discount. He never did. His body was pulled from the canal on Sunday morning.
Why and how David Swaffer died in Ireland may always be a mystery. But the businessman, according to his family and friends, would never have committed suicide.
The assurance companies believe he was under severe financial pressure.
The pathologist said there were no traces of drugs, alcohol or anti depressants when she examined his body. There were no injuries present nor was there any evidence of a heart attack prior to drowning.
Last night's verdict of accidental death will not end the speculation about David Swaffer. The jury's decision, however, will have little effect on the assurance claim because the court is outside the jurisdiction. But it will be used as evidence when his sons do battle with the assurance companies in the British courts.