The jury in the trial of murder-accused Graham Dwyer was sent home on their second day after just under five hours of deliberation. The jurors will resume their work today at 11.30am. The seven men and five women had sought exhibits from the court during the day. They asked for all of the knives involved in the case, including two found in the basement of Mr Dwyer's workplace, A&D Wejchert in Baggot Street, those recovered from the Vartry reservoir and one found by gardaí at Killakee Wood.
Mr Dwyer (42), an architect, Kerrymount Close, Foxrock, is charged with murdering childcare worker Elaine O'Hara (36) on August 22nd, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty. Ms O'Hara's remains were found by a woman out walking her dog on Killakee Mountain, Rathfarnham, on September 13th, 2013.
The jury also asked to see the runner found with Ms O’Hara’s remains, the spade found in a ditch in the vicinity and a rucksack recovered by gardaí from the Vartry reservoir. The prosecution alleges the rucksack is shown on CCTV footage being carried out of Ms O’Hara’s apartment at Belarmine Plaza, Stepaside, by Mr Dwyer on August 15th, 2012, a week before Ms O’Hara disappeared.
Other exhibits requested included a blue hoodie, a white vest and a bondage mask, all of which were recovered from the reservoir, as well as the tracksuit bottoms found at Killakee with Ms O’Hara’s remains.
A further item the jury requested, a letter to Mr Dwyer from his son Sennan McShea in relation to smoking, which was seized from Mr Dwyer’s home, was unavailable to the jurors as it had not been shown to Mr McShea when he gave evidence. They also asked for a larger screen on which to view videos. The foreman told Mr Justice Tony Hunt the jurors wanted to examine “one particular image” more closely.
They had begun deliberations at 11.04am yesterday on the second day of their work. At the beginning of the morning, the foreman handed in a note for the judge. It named some of the exhibits the jury wanted to see and also asked if the press were allowed to publish the foreman’s name.
In the afternoon, the judge told the jurors their concerns had been looked into. He said for their own “peace of mind and comfort”, he had made an order that there should be no publication of their names or personal details. He told the foreman the newspaper that had published his name as part of a report had been contacted and had been told to remove all mention of him from its website.
He said the jurors were “engaged in important unpaid work in the public interest” and were private citizens. Legislation ensuring jurors were not identified was in place a long time ago, the judge said, but did not seem to have been included in later laws concerning the protection of a jury during trials. He said the legislation should be brought back.
Mr Justice Hunt also he said if they did not conclude on Friday, they would have to come back on Monday. Sending them out on Wednesday, after a charge lasting a total of 10½ hours, Mr Justice Hunt urged them not to give themselves an unrealistic deadline.
He emphasised how much was at stake and said if they had to sit past Friday, they should do so. “It’s over to you and I wish you well,” he said.
