A woman who has pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity told gardaí that she killed a man to “protect Prince William” and cut off his genitals after he died “to protect women”, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Grace Miano (53), a Kenyan national, is charged with the murder of Malawian man Limbani ‘Robert’ Mzoma (27) at Tudor Lawns, Foxrock, Dublin on November 1st, 2018.
Ms Miano, who is also known as Margaret Sloane, told the court she was pleading “not guilty by reason of insanity”.
James B Dwyer SC, for the prosecution, told the jury that evidence would be produced that two males went to the house on Tudor Lawns on the night of November 1st, 2018.
One of the men went into the kitchen through the back door and found Ms Miano, who said “I have a drip in your friend; I’m a good doctor.”
Mr Dwyer said the jury would hear that the accused then said to the male that the deceased was lying in the sitting room in a “Halloween costume”.
Counsel said that the jury would hear evidence that the male then went to the front door to let in a second male, who saw the deceased lying on his back in blood with his genitals having been removed. Mr Dwyer said the two men contacted gardaí and told a neighbour their friend was dead inside the house.
Multiple wounds
He told the jury that evidence would be produced to show the deceased suffered multiple wounds and suffered multiple injuries to his face, head and body.
Mr Dwyer said postmortem evidence from State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan would say that the deceased suffered stab wounds to his eyes and skull, had multiple lacerations and bruising to his body and that his genitals were removed after death.
He said CCTV footage was obtained by gardaí and the house was searched on the night. Counsel said Mr Mzoma was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.35am.
The jury was told that gardaíwould say in evidence that a number of blood-stained knives were recovered from the house, along with a poker that was broken in two and was found next to the body of the deceased. An axe was also found in the back garden, he said.
Counsel further said that evidence will be given that “human remains” were also found by gardaí in the kitchen sink.
He said the jury would hear that when she was interviewed by gardaí, Ms Miano alleged that the deceased had raped her in her sleep and had spiked her drink. She told gardaí that she had got him drunk and attacked him with the poker before cutting off his genitals “to protect women”.
Juror in difficulty
At this point in his opening speech, Mr Dwyer said he noticed one juror “in difficulty” who had stood up and moved towards the exit door to the jury room. Mr Justice Paul McDermott then gave the jury a 10-minute break before the case resumed.
Mr Justice McDermott asked the jury to remind him if any issues arose in the case regarding evidence, which he described as “not the norm”. The judge encouraged jurors to raise their hands if there were any further difficulties so they could be facilitated.
Resuming his opening speech, Mr Dwyer said Ms Miano told gardaí she had a conversation with God on the night of the alleged murder and that Jesus had appeared to her “out of a hole”.
Mr Dwyer said gardaí would tell the trial that Ms Miano said in interview that she killed Mr Mzoma “to protect Prince William, a member of the British royal family”.
He said the jury could return a “special verdict” of not guilty by insanity under Section 5 of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act, which applied when the jury finds an accused has committed the act for which they are on trial and has also heard evidence in the case from a consultant psychologist.
He said it is the defence’s case that Ms Miano suffers a “schizoaffective” disorder, that she did not know her actions were wrong and that she was unable to refrain from her actions at the time. Mr Dwyer told the jury that the vast majority of the case had been agreed upon by prosecution and defence.
Postmortem
Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan told Elva Duffy BL, also for the prosecution, that she conducted a postmortem on Mr Mzoma at the Dublin City Mortuary on November 2nd, 2018. She said he sustained 63 external wounds comprised of stabbing injuries, blunt-force trauma, lacerations and abrasions.
Dr Mulligan said she concluded that Mr Mzoma’s cause of death was primarily due to a blunt-force trauma injury and a stabbing injury to the top and rear of the head, which caused a complex skull fracture and bleeding in the brain.
She said the blunt force trauma could be consistent with the broken poker recovered from the sitting room or with the fat end of an axe found in the back garden.
She said a large triangular wound, measuring 18cm by 17cm, that severed the genitalia had no vital reactions associated with it and agreed with Ms Duffy that the injury was inflicted after death. Two other stab wounds to the neck were also inflicted postmortem, said Dr Mulligan.
Dr Mulligan said that a toxicology report showed an alcohol/blood level was recorded at 259mg per 100ml of blood. She said that this was “not enough to cause unconsciousness” but was a “moderate to severe level of acute intoxication”.
Det Sgt Paul Curran told Mr Dwyer that photographs taken at the scene showed blood on the floor, door, fireplace, light-switch and ceiling of the sitting room and that an amount of “fleshy tissue” was also found in the kitchen sink.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five women and seven men.