A woman shot to death in her bedroom had moved to sleep in that room because "she thought she would be safer" there, her daughter told the trial of two Dublin men accused of her murder at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Conor Grogan (26), of Avonbeg Park, Tallaght, and Timothy Rattigan (26), of St Dominick's Terrace, Tallaght, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Joan Casey (65) at Avonbeg Park on April 3th, 2004.
The victim's daughter, Martina Casey, told the court how she used to visit her mother a few times a week. She described her mother as a "wonderful, wonderful, wonderful lady".
The jury was told how Ms Casey's bedroom window was smashed on a Saturday night in November 2003.
"I went over to her that Sunday, and she was very, very nervous about the window being smashed in," said Martina Casey.
"She moved to the back bedroom because she thought she would be safer."
Ms Casey died in her daughter's former room after two shots were fired through the bedroom door, one of them hitting her.
The deceased was separated from her husband of 44 years, Dominick Casey, who lived in a converted shed in the garden.
He had heard "nothing whatsoever" that morning, and was woken by a garda.
The court heard from Det Garda Mark Collander, who spotted a bag near a flat complex close to the victim's home. "It had a 12-gauge shotgun, which was taken down into three pieces, and I found a pistol, three live cartridges, and in the breach end of the shotgun I observed two discharged shotgun cartridges."
The court also heard from Conleth Grogan, father of the accused Conor Grogan, who described how the sons in the family get together at a local pub. "Once a month we go to Ahern's pub. 'The Friday Club' gathered the night before Mrs Casey was killed."
Mr Grogan's son Peter said when he left the gathering at 11pm the two accused were still in the pub with a few others.
Gerard Casey, the dead woman's son, said he moved out of the family home in November 2003.
"Did you ever stay there on any occasion since?" prosecuting counsel Edward Comyn asked.
"Yes, every other weekend," he replied.
The trial continues today.